Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff
by VivaGlam
Summary: What happens when you throw a group of mutant would-be thieves together and toss some X-Men and anti-mutant activists into the mix? Utter Chaos. Important notice to all readers- please look inside!!
1. Dim Sum and Million Dollar Schemes

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff  
  
By Vfgirl  
  
Ok, here's the first chapter. It might be a little slow, and none of the crew are in this one (yet), but I'm afraid it's quite necessary, 'cuz I need to set the foundations for the story.  
  
And one last thing- Adrienne and Carey both belong to me. .O  
  
Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The raucous squawk of the alarm clock sounded loudly throughout the small, dark room, startling it's occupant into a dull wakefulness. It took a moment for her to orient herself, trying to remember where exactly she was, and how she had gotten there in the first place. Then, a flood of memories rushed back, and she groaned loudly at the accompanying headache. The aftermath of her post-graduation celebrations hit her with full force, causing her to seriously regret giving in to the whiny persuasions of her friends to go clubbing the previous night.  
  
At least she hadn't made any stupid mistakes while she was drunk. She turned around, and proceeded to SCREAM. There, lying in HER bed, in HER room, in HER apartment, was a total, complete stranger. And he was naked.  
  
It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened the previous night.  
  
At least he's cute The thought popped into her head, uncalled for, and certainly unprompted. He stirred in his sleep, turning around to face her. And she nearly fainted. He was butt ugly. He had a nice body, and the back of his head was looked good, but he was definitely not what one would call handsome.  
  
Despite all the noise, it was apparent that he was not going to return from the land of the dead anytime soon. It seemed that he was still dead drunk. Yanking the blanket over herself to protect her modesty, (which was rather futile, since her back was still exposed, and pointless, since the guy was still sleeping) she got up, and started to rummage through the clothes strewn all over the floor. Finding his pants, she searched until she found his Palm Pilot, a wallet with ID, and a cell-phone.  
  
She immediately proceeded outside to give his roommates a call.  
  
After she had made herself decent, and showered the smell of smoke and alcohol from herself, she started to clean up the place, and was just about done when the doorbell rang. "Coming!" She hollered in response, and made a mad dash for the door.  
  
Sure enough, it was the person whom she had spoken to over the phone. "Uh, hi." He said nervously. "I'm Paul? I'm here to pick up Tom, my roommate."  
  
He looked up and down at the woman standing before him. She was on the small side, with short, slightly curly hair worn in a cute pixie cut, and she looked at him through a pair of stylish wire frame spectacles. Despite the puffiness around her almond eyes, and the obvious fatigue showing in her face from the previous night, she was rather attractive, with her delicate features and her slim figure.  
  
"Yeah, hi." She said, leaning forward to take his hand in a handshake. "I'm Adrienne Li, the person who called you. Tom's in the room. If you'd come and help me, I'll be more than glad to get rid of him."  
  
Once Paul had left with Tom, Adrienne finished up with the cleaning of her small studio apartment, and proceeded to enjoy a small breakfast after popping in two aspirins to alleviate her pounding headache. She opened up the San Francisco Times, and the title on the headlines immediately caught her attention.  
  
"WEALTHY ENTREPRENUER CONTRIBUTES SUBSTANTIAL SUM TO ANTI-MUTANT ORGANIZATION"  
  
Adrienne scanned the articles, and when she had finished, she put down her newspaper, and stared thoughtfully off into empty space. She had an idea.  
  
After a few moments, she got up and walked over to her phone. Picking the receiver up, she began to punch in some numbers.  
  
  
  
Halfway across the city, in a luxurious penthouse apartment, a cell phone rang. A slim Chinese man dressed in nothing but his pants, cooking breakfast, put down the saucepan from where he was standing in front of the kitchen stove and hurried to pick up his phone.  
  
He wedged the small cell phone between his neck and his shoulder before returning to his cooking. "Talk." He said into the phone, his voice matter- of-fact.  
  
"Is this any way to greet your little sister when she calls you?" purred a female voice.  
  
Sighing, Carey Li, big brother to Adrienne Li, walked back to his stove and started to toss the omelet into the air. "Hey, Addy. What's up?"  
  
"I've got an idea." Carey's heart skipped a heat.  
  
"Oh no."  
  
"Oh, yes. And it's a big one, too."  
  
Carey felt a sudden need to bang his head against the wall. "And how's that supposed to make me feel better?"  
  
"Let's see- we remove a big bunch of high end, and potentially dangerous black market goods from the hands of terrorists, we bankrupt a couple of them in the process, we bring a bad guy to justice and show the world just how much of a creep he is, and we get a lot of money in the process. Pick your favorite." Adrienne rattled off a list of reasons.  
  
"And let me guess, the means to such wonderful ends aren't exactly what you'd call legal."  
  
"You're the professional scoundrel here, Da Ge."  
  
"No."  
  
"At least let me present my case."  
  
"No."  
  
"Meet me at the Jade Dragon at 12 pm today, for lunch. We'll talk some more there." And she hung up.  
  
"No, no, no, no, no." He turned around and sat at the makeshift bar, laying his head on his arms. "I always get sucked into her crazy schemes. Always."  
  
Then again, you've never had that much of a problem coming up with your own trouble, have you?   
  
3 hours later, both Li siblings were eating lunch at the Jade Dragon restaurant. One of them was thoroughly enjoying herself. The other wasn't. Carey sat in his seat, miserable, watching Adrienne indulging happily in all-you-can-eat dim sum. She seemed to be even more gleeful today, probably due to the fact that Carey was paying for lunch. He could just feel the hole in his pocket growing and growing.  
  
"So, how was graduation?"  
  
"Wo yao ne ge feng jiao, hai you siew mai, he zhe pan har gow." She finished ordering her chicken legs, siew mai and prawn dumplings before turning to answer Carey. "Oh yeah, it was absolutely fantastic." She drawled, the sarcasm plain in her voice. She paused, and then added an afterthought. "Even though you weren't there."  
  
He groaned inwardly. "If this is about paying me back for not showing up for your graduation, I'm sorry, but I was busy."  
  
"Yeah, right." She snorted derisively. "But this isn't about that. Believe me, if I was gonna make you pay, you'd be in a lot more pain than you're in right now." She took a sip of tea, and then continued. "What I've got in mind is something really, really big. So big that there're no way I can pull it off myself. Heck, even if we were working together, we still wouldn't be able to do it."  
  
As much as Carey hated to admit it, his interest was piqued. This really did sound big. And Adrienne was not one who tended to exaggerate. "I'm listening."  
  
"There's this guy holding a big charity event at his place 8 weeks from now, and part of the event's itinerary includes showing off his big house, and all the valuables and antiquities in it. Everybody knows just how rich he is, so I'm counting on there being lots of gold and valuables in his personal safe underneath the house." Adrienne paused to take a sip of tea, before continuing.  
  
" It's also common knowledge that he's a big crime kingpin. And I've got a tip that there might be-" she glanced around, checking to make sure that no one else was listening. "-'Other stuff' at his place that night. He's expecting a shipment of high end military weapons that weekend, and he's planning to hide them somewhere on his property, because he's planning to hold a black market sale that night for some of the World's Most Wanted."  
  
"So that 'charity event' isn't really a charity event."  
  
"Not completely. There'll be as many international terrorists there that night as there are legit people who want to contribute to a good cause. The charity event will still be going on, but it's mostly a cover for a black market weapons auction."  
  
Carey massaged his temples. He felt a headache coming on. "And let me guess. You want us to steal all those weapons, right?"  
  
"Not the weapons. I don't want to have anything to do with those weapons. The government's involved with all that, and it's a dead end trap."  
  
"Well, that's where all the real money is. You're not going to get much from robbing him of gold and antiques." Carey frowned, leaning back against his seat. He was beginning to doubt Adrienne's plans.  
  
She sighed, and shook her head. "You haven't heard the rest of my plan yet. We wait until all the stuff gets bought, and-  
  
"-Then we get the money that they're paying him with." Carey leaned back. Honestly, his sister astonished him. It took incredible nerves and brains to think up an idea like that. "It's brilliant. And because all the money is obtained from the black market, the notes are untraceable. And gold is untraceable, too. Artifacts and antiques are a little more difficult, but if sold on the black market, it becomes nearly impossible to discover who introduced it."  
  
"At the very worst, we don't take the antiques. I don't want to take any stupid risks." Said Adrienne, her tone serious and to the point, a rare occurrence for somebody such as herself.  
  
"So, don't keep me in suspense. Who is it?" In response to his question, Adrienne held up the article that had inspired her brainchild that morning for him to read. The table quickly dropped off into silence as he scanned the words under the headline. His eyes then rapidly grew wider, and his jaw dropped to the ground. Then, just as suddenly as he had grown quiet, Carey laughed out loud. "HA! You know how stupid your last line sounded? Do you know who exactly you're trying to rob here? Can you even begin to fathom the kind of power that this dude has?"  
  
"I know. And it's because of that power that he's grown complacent. He won't be expecting this."  
  
"The reason why he doesn't take as many security measures as everybody else is because he KNOWS that he'll be able to hunt down anybody who tries to rob him. You'd have to practically disappear off the face of the earth to escape his clutches. This guy has spies, allies, allegiances, money, satellite systems, everything is state-of-the-art, including his private, personal safe. He's practically undefeatable, and he knows it. And have you forgotten, my dear sister, who will be at the party?! The First Lady!! Secret Service will be swarming all over the place! It would have been hard enough to pull the heist off without them, but with them around, it's gonna be Mission: Impossible."  
  
"And that, my dear brother, is why we're going to be able to pull this one off." She punctuated that sentence by taking a big bite into a prawn dumpling. Smiling, she chewed slowly and looked him in the eye.  
  
One last question. Please?? The criminal in him begged to be able to ask just one last question. Before he could object, THE question popped out of his mouth. "What's the expected take?"  
  
Adrienne finished chewing, and she swallowed. "From the kind of weapons he's planning to sell, I'm thinking at least 50 million, easily double that amount if everything gets sold, which at this point in time is practically guaranteed."  
  
Carey paused, and then sighed with defeat. "Alright, I'm in." 


	2. Manolo Blahniks and Gold Bikinis

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff  
  
Ok, here's the second chapter. Sorry if it's not very good- for some reason it wasn't as inspired as the first. Still, I hope that it's acceptable. Carey and Adrienne belong to me, and the lovely Miss Crest and Miss Moon belong to Li/Wolfwing and Jillybean respectively.  
  
Oh and one more thing. Icequeen, I really, really, really need to know where Fayre is stationed. My bad, but I deleted the STUPID thing before I realized my mistake. Post it up on the review board, ok? Really sorry that I have to inconvenience you.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Where're we going?" asked Adrienne. Both she and Carey were sitting in his car, with Carey at the wheel, since Adrienne had taken a taxi to the Jade Dragon.  
  
"To your place. You're gonna pack up and get ready for our trip ahead." He turned at the next junction, and then pulled over at the curb in front of Adrienne's apartment complex. "You've planned the heist, and now it's my responsibility to get a crew both skilled and crazy enough together so that we can try to pull off your ridiculous idea."  
  
That made sense. Sort of. "So- where are we going?"  
  
He leaned over and opened the car door for her. "You're gonna go upstairs and pack. I'm gonna circle around, find a parking space, and then I'm gonna use your phone to buy us a pair of plane tickets to LA."  
  
Adrienne was already out of the car. "Ok. What about your luggage?"  
  
"I've got all the essentials I need in my trunk."  
  
"Ok." Adrienne stood up, about to go back up to her apartment, when she suddenly bent back down. "Why LA?"  
  
He sighed painfully. "Are you rich?"  
  
"No. Why do you ask?" Adrienne's face was creased into a puzzled frown.  
  
"Because I'm not rich either. And if we want to even come close to being able to pull this off, we're gonna need a lot more money. A lot. And I know somebody who just might be able to help us with that."  
  
"Oh." Realization dawned on Addy's face, as she understood what he said. "I'd never thought of that."  
  
Carey's face wrinkled into an extremely pained expression, and he groaned. He took a second to close his eyes and massage his temples. "Please, once we get to the actual heist, don't ever, ever say that, ok?"  
  
Just then, a loud honk sounded behind Carey. Somebody wanted his spot. He turned around and hollered. "Patience is a virtue!!!" He then turned back to Adrienne. "Look, just go and pack up. I'll be up there in a minute." The honk sounded again. "Yeah, I'm moving already!!"  
  
This is called a cruel irony, so much like my dependence upon Adrienne.   
  
  
  
6 Hours later, both Adrienne and Carey were standing in the Los Angeles International Airport. "Here." Carey handed Adrienne a slip of paper, upon which an address was written. "Tell the cab driver to take you to this address. You shouldn't have any problem with getting in once you reach there. Just tell the security guard your name, and if he still doesn't accept, say that you're Carey Li's sister, and that you're here on business for me."  
  
Adrienne arched one well-groomed eyebrow. "On business for YOU? I don't think so, Da Ge. This is my idea, don't forget that."  
  
Carey laughed a little, and then he shook his head. "Listen, you can do whatever you like. Just make sure that you get to speak to Miss Amethyst Crest, ok?"  
  
"Amethyst Crest. Got that."  
  
"You sure? She hates it when people get her name wrong."  
  
"Look, Care, who's the one who went to Stanford? When I said I've got it, I've got it, ok?"  
  
He sighed. "Ok then. Call me on my cell if you need me." He then turned around and walked away from her.  
  
"Where're you going?"  
  
"To find another fellow lunatic."  
  
  
  
After an hour's drive (it takes an hour to drive anywhere in LA), Adrienne finally arrived at Amethyst Crest's house. Or, to be more precise, at her estate. Her property was HUGE. The taxi stopped at the gate, and the security guard came out to verify her identity. Before Adrienne could even finish saying her name, he waved them on through the gate. "We've been expecting you, Miss."  
  
They pulled up in front of the main entrance, and Adrienne stepped out, gazing around in wonder at the vast property. This place is AMAZING. She bent down, paid the cab driver, and got her luggage. Before long, she was left standing in front of the door, wondering how she should go about getting her audience with Miss Crest. Then, just as she had made up her mind to knock and see what happened from there, the huge oak doors swung open, and a maid stood in front of her, beaming, a wide smile stretching from ear to ear.  
  
"Good morning, miss. I'm so sorry that I couldn't get the door immediately after you'd arrived. I was busy in the kitchen. Please follow me. Miss Crest has been expecting you." A butler then swooped in and carted off Adrienne's luggage, and Adrienne was left to follow the maid, who quickly bustled off in the opposite direction. She followed the maid through a series of twists and turns, before finally coming to a small room that looked like it belonged more to an upscale boutique than it did a room in a private mansion. Then again, this was Beverly Hills.  
  
The maid opened a door, and turned around to look at Adrienne. "Miss Crest would like you to change into a bathing suit so that you could join her by the poolside. You're a size-" She trailed off, scrutinizing Addy from head to toe, trying to determine what size she wore.  
  
Squirming, Addy swallowed, and added rather uneasily, "Erm, a size 6."  
  
"A size 6." With that, the maid disappeared into room. "So, you're Adrienne Li, am I right?" The sound of her riffling through clothes in the room punctuated her sentence. Worried that the maid might choose something for her that she wouldn't like, she followed her into the closet, hoping to have a say in what kind of swimsuit the lady picked out for her to wear.  
  
"Yeah, I am." Adrienne looked around in wonder at the 'closet'. Department store, it was more like. The whole room was wall-to-wall clothes, and half of the closet space was devoted to- bikinis.  
  
The maid fished out a gold two-piece. "There, this should fit you. And you'll look fantastic, too, I'll bet."  
  
Adrienne took it, and smiled. It really was nice. "Thanks."  
  
" There's a changing room back there." Adrienne followed her advice and headed to the cubicle. "So, are you Carey Li's sister?"  
  
"Yeah, I am."  
  
"Interesting." The sound of the dressing room curtain sliding back followed her answer, and she stepped out. "Hey, you look good."  
  
"Thanks." Adrienne smiled. She really like the way she looked. "Why is it interesting?"  
  
"Oh, nothing." The maid shrugged it off, and smiled wryly to herself.  
  
Later, the maid led her out to the pool, to where a lady was sunning herself on a luxurious chaise. "Miss Crest, Miss Li is here to see you."  
  
At this, the lady took off her shades, and smiled at Adrienne. Adrienne did a double take when she got close enough to see the Miss Crest's proper hair color. It was purple. And so were her eyes.  
  
Amethyst noticed Adrienne's reaction and smiled. "I see you've noticed my mutation, Adrienne. How did you think that I came by my name?" She then looked at the maid. "Lucia, have you offered Adrienne a drink?"  
  
Lucia bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, Miss Crest. The thought had escaped my mind. I was too busy getting Miss Li her swimsuit."  
  
"What kind of drink would you like? Oh, and please, join me. You can call me Amethyst." Amethyst patted the chaise next to her, and smiled.  
  
Adrienne sat down beside her. "Can I have some orange juice?" She looked at Amethyst's pina colada. "I'm afraid that it's a little early for a cocktail."  
  
"Of course, Miss Li." Lucia then looked at her employer. "Would you like a refill, Miss Crest?"  
  
"No, thanks, Lucia. Could you make sure that we're not disturbed? I understand that Adrienne has quite the proposition to make."  
  
"Certainly, Miss Crest." Lucia then turned around and left them alone. Amethyst was quiet for a while, sipping her drink.  
  
"So, Adrienne, Carey called me today and said that you were going to present quite the business venture. Is that right?"  
  
Adrienne shifted around for a bit, and smiled uneasily. This bikini bottom's a little small- I'm getting a wedgie-ugh "Yeah, kind of." She wanted to say some more, but didn't really know how to go about it.  
  
Amethyst picked up on her uneasiness. Must be a newbie. She remembered what it was like to be new at this business, and so she started the ball rolling. "Carey tells me that you have an idea for a big heist up your sleeve."  
  
Adrienne looked at Amethyst. "Yeah," she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do. And we need somebody to back us up financially."  
  
"I'm listening."  
  
  
  
Halfway across town, Carey was sitting in a trendy French bistro along Rodeo Drive, waiting for somebody. He sighed, and shifted in his seat, looking at his watch. He'd already been waiting for her for over an hour. Surely it couldn't take THAT long to buy a pair of shoes?  
  
Finally, he lost all patience, and got up. Carey signaled for the check, and left money and a tip on the table before he exited the little bistro. He squinted in the bright Los Angeles sunlight, and paused to regain his sense of direction. It took a moment for him to recall where the Manolo Blahnik boutique was, and then he headed over to it. She was going to pay for making him wait so long.  
  
Inside the boutique, Raykel Moon was trying on yet another pair of shoes. She stuck her foot out, eyeing the strappy sandal, trying to decide whether or not to purchase them. "Marcus, do you think that this looks good? I can't really decide between this pair or the ankle boots."  
  
The man she was speaking to turned around and flipped his long hair, before tossing his head back, letting loose a light little laugh. "Oh, love, you look good in everything. Why even bother asking?"  
  
"Sometimes I wonder if you say that just to make me buy more shoes." She grinned at Marcus' statement. "And maybe I should rephrase that. Which pair do you think looks better on me? I really have to make my mind up, I'm late for a meeting with somebody."  
  
"Hmm." He rested his chin on his arm as he looked at Raykel. "The gold looks just ravishing against your skin, but I really love the sexiness, that outrageous va-va-voom of that red boot, you know?"  
  
Raykel let out her breath, causing her bangs to fly up. "Huh, that was a lot of help." Just then, the door to the boutique opened up, the soft chime of bells announcing the arrival of another customer. "Looks like you've got a customer, Marcus."  
  
The salesman was about to reply when the newcomer strode straight into the sitting area. "Listen, Raykel, I'm a patient man, but do you realize just how long I was waiting for you?"  
  
"Rreow!" Marcus gave Carey the once over. "Hello there, handsome." He purred. "Raykel, girlfriend, you never told me that your friend was so cute, huh?"  
  
The conversation between Raykel and Carey went on, both of them ignoring Marcus for the time being. "And it's very good to see you too, Carey." The edge of sarcasm was plain in her voice. "I just got a little laid up, that's all. No need to get your cute little tushie tied up into a knot over such a tiny little matter."  
  
Carey continued to rant, not appearing to hear Raykel's last remark. "If it had been a life-or-death situation, yeah, perhaps it might've been ok that you were held up for such a long time. But you're SHOE SHOPPING. You might've at least called me to say-" Raykel's comment about his behind finally sunk in. "Waitaminit, my tushie isn't cute!"  
  
Marcus eyeballed Carey's rear. "That's what you think, handsome."  
  
"Hey, no looking!" Carey spun around, and tried to cover up his behind.  
  
"Looks like you and gorgeous here need some time alone. Call me when you've decided which pair of shoes you want, ok, Rake?" He walked past Carey, out into the foyer of the luxurious boutique. "And don't forget to leave some of him for me, eh, girl?" He then patted Carey on the bottom before he headed out. Carey jumped at that, and the look of indignation on his face just was to die for.  
  
Raykel saw all this, and laughed. "Marcus make you nervous, Carey? Well, take it from me, he's harmless."  
  
Carey watched Marcus with suspicious eyes. "Right. Whatever you say." Despite the fact that he had appeared to believe Raykel, he still went over to sit down next to her, making sure that his 'tushie' was inaccessible to anybody else who took a sudden fancy to him.  
  
"So, what do you have for me? Champagne?" She poured him a glass. "It's Cristal."  
  
He accepted the glass from her, and took a cautious sip. "Hey, not bad."  
  
"I shop here often enough that Marcus knows to offer me the best. Speaking of which, which pair of shoes do you think looks better on me?"  
  
Carey bent down to take a better look at her shoes, and he couldn't help but admire Raykel's legs. This woman was extremely attractive, and she knew it. Then, he got a good look at the stiletto heels that Manolo Blahniks were famous for. "Yeesh!! How on earth do you walk in these shoes? Those heels are so pointed you could take out a man's eye with them."  
  
"I simply don't walk in them. And why do you think I like keeping these shoes with me? They make great weapons."  
  
"I'll just delude myself into thinking that you're only joking, and lull myself into a false sense of security, huh?" His dry humor cracked a smile from Raykel. "And since I can't talk to you in the French bistro across the road, I'll try to convince you to cash in on a harebrained scheme in a Manolo Blahnik boutique while sipping Cristal champagne."  
  
"You've got my attention, so talk." 


	3. Boyfriends and Ferrari Superexotics

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff  
  
* * *  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Miracles of miracles! I actually managed to finish this over the weekend! Huzzah! Yeah, well, I know that you're itching to read the story, so just remember that Care and Addy belong to yours truly, and to what I'm sure must be Bazzer's and Rafer Z's delight, both Jay and Gabe belong to them. So before I give away any more of this chapter, just wanna say "Please R&R!!" I'm praise hungry, and flattery will get you more miracles… * hint, hint *  
  
And on with the show!!  
  
* * *  
  
"I once wanted to kill the sexiest person alive, but I realized that suicide would be a crime."  
  
"Don't suffer from insanity, enjoy every second of it."  
  
* * *  
  
Chapter 3  
  
The cell phone that was resting on the small table beside the chaise lounge started to ring shrilly, the overly bright tune causing the person sitting beside it to jump in surprise. Adrienne blinked once or twice, trying to shake the sleep from her eyes. How long had she been sleeping out here beside Amethyst's pool? The phone rung again, and she reached over to pick it up, before wincing in pain. Ack! Sunburn. Should've put sun block on.   
  
She pressed the 'Receive Call' button on her phone. "Hey. Who's this speaking?" She winced again. She wondered if Amethyst had any aloe vera with her. She was going to pay for not putting sunscreen on. She hoped fervently that she didn't look too bad.  
  
"How did your recruiting go?" Carey's voice sounded over the speaker.  
  
"Amethyst seems agreeable to the idea. Of course, I didn't tell her too much, either. Just that it's gonna be a big one. So, that could be considered a success. On the other hand, my skin wasn't exactly agreeable to the idea of sun bathing."  
  
"What?" The puzzlement in Carey's voice was obvious.  
  
"Nothing. Just some whining. We've got one person on this side. What about your end of the situation?"  
  
"Well, now we've got two. You up to some more traveling? Because you know we need some more people."  
  
Adrienne got up and started walking towards the mansion. "Yeah, I know. Guess that means that I'll be on the move again. You know, when you call, its never good news."  
  
Carey laughed. "Huh, that's a nice vote of confidence for my reputation."  
  
"Always more than willing to bring you back down to Earth, Care." She grinned, smiling at the good natured, self-deprecating humor that passed between the two of them.  
  
"Pass the phone to Amy. I have to talk to her about something. And don't unpack just yet. You're leaving for Vegas tomorrow."  
  
Adrienne walked into the house, and saw Amethyst sitting at the mini-bar. "Yo, Amy! Care wants to talk to you." She then tossed the phone to Amethyst, who caught it.  
  
"Thanks. Whoa, what happened to you? No offense, but you look…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say.  
  
"Like a lobster?" Adrienne finished off the sentence. "Thanks for noticing. You could've woken me up when I started to roast, ya know."  
  
"Didn't want to wake you up. Anybody ever tell you that you look like an angel when you're asleep?" She grinned at the look on Adrienne's face. She looked so much like Carey when she did that.  
  
"Please, no more." She winced. "Just tell me where the aloe vera is, ok?"  
  
"Lucia! Could you please get Adrienne some aloe vera?" She then put the phone to her ear, and started to walk away.  
  
Carey's low chuckle rumbled in her ear. "Addy acting up again?"  
  
"I swear, Carey, she's just as lovable as you are. You know that I didn't let her burn on purpose." She laughed when she recalled the look on Adrienne's face.  
  
"Oh no, you're not dragging me into this. Addy's my sister, and you're- well, you're…" He trailed off, an awkward silence stretching between them both. He swallowed, and took a moment to concentrate on the mission at hand. Heist, heist, heist "Let's not go there, shall we?"  
  
Amethyst's voice went soft. "We should readdress that some time soon, Care."  
  
"Yeah, well, maybe next time." Carey's voice was uncharacteristically quiet. There was another awkward pause, and then he spoke again, his tone brisk. "I needed to ask you if we could use your place as the base of operations. Or at least as the gathering place. We'll need to brief the crew before we get started. And Addy tells me that you're in?"  
  
Amethyst sighed. We can't keep avoiding this forever. But he wants to do business, then business we'll do. " Yeah, I'm in for the time being. You'll need more people in your crew, won't you?"  
  
"Yeah. But you don't have to pay for it-"  
  
"Nonsense. I'm funding this, aren't I? I'll pay for both your and Addy's airfare. You'll both fly 1st class until you find enough people for your crew. And my mansion will be our base of operations for this mission, so send whoever you've managed to recruit here. Where're you both headed next? I'll make the arrangements."  
  
"I'm headed to San Diego, and Addy's supposed to go to Las Vegas."  
  
"Vegas, huh? You know what they say about Vegas." A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.  
  
"Losers don't take risks. Winners go to Vegas." Amethyst could practically see his warm smile on the other end. "My personal motto."  
  
* * * *  
  
The next day, Adrienne stood in the lobby of the Bellagio. This was the second time in 2 days that she was standing in front of something that completely awed and overshadowed her. It was a feeling that she was really getting to dislike. Being out of control and not knowing what to do was something that she did not appreciate.  
  
She looked to the sign that said 'Check In' and proceeded to line up. She had somebody to look up later. Meanwhile, she would check into the room that Amethyst had procured for her.  
  
5 minutes later, the bellboy opened the door to her room, and Adrienne stood there, mouth agape, staring in amazement at the room Amethyst had gotten for her. Room? This isn't a room. It's a friggin' HOUSE. The bellboy noted her look of amazement and he smiled, charmed by her behavior. "Welcome to the Bellagio, Miss."  
  
She looked at him, and remembered that she had to tip him. "Here, take-" He pushed her hand away, and smiled at her.  
  
"Don't worry about it." He then picked up her suitcase and carried it into the luxurious penthouse suite. "You packed light. How long are you gonna be here?"  
  
"Thanks." She took the duffel bag from him and hefted it onto the huge sea of silk and fluff that was supposed to be her bed. "Not long. I'm here on business."  
  
"Well, then, enjoy your stay here. If you're ever looking for someone to show you the sights, give me a call, ok?" He then pressed a piece of paper into her hand, and left the room. He then paused at the door. "Oh, by the way, nice tan." Impossible as it seemed, Adrienne turned even redder from embarrassment. She'd nearly forgotten about her sunburn until he'd mentioned it. She sincerely hoped that she'd remembered to pack aloe vera. And maybe some foundation would help, too. Sighing, she flopped onto her bed, and covered her eyes.  
  
* * *  
  
Later That Night  
  
* * *  
  
A long line snaked outside the nightclub. Two huge bouncers, standing menacingly underneath a huge chrome sign that read "TaJie", manned the entrance, regulating the number of people that went in at a time. Adrienne ran her hand through her hair. Hopefully, it was a little too dark to see her sunburn. She'd done her best to look like she belonged in a place like this. Black leather pants (and a thong) that ITCHED like hell, and a red piece of cloth that only covered her front with just a few straps in the back to hold it to her body completed her ensemble. She'd slicked her hair down and put on her contacts, and red lips completed her look.  
  
Car after car drove up to the entrance of the club, Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and even some of the new Maserati Spyders. All their owners stepped out, clad from head to toe in designer gear. Every single one of them were beautiful, thin people, out to have a good night on the town. Adrienne grinned. Honestly, sometimes, I even impress myself. If there was any better place to find a car thief, it didn't exist within a 300-mile radius. And, Action!   
  
Adrienne got back into her Chevy pick 'em up and started the engine. There were times when this power was useful. She paused, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. The air around the car shimmered, and the red sedan morphed into a red Ferrari- the new super exotic. Each and every detail was perfect, right down to the steering wheel and tire hubcaps emblazoned with the little yellow shield and the graceful prancing horse. Adrienne had spent the entire afternoon studying the pictures, trying to memorize each and every detail. She had to make this an opportunity that any car thief could not pass up.  
  
She drove up to the entrance, and happily noted the heads turning in her direction. This car was worth $600,000. She noticed a huge black man dressed in a valet's uniform walk up to her car. She had a good feeling about this guy. So far, so good. She took a deep breath, and concentrated even harder. This was the most dangerous part of her plan. As she shut her eyes, she willed an image of her to get up, out of the Ferrari, and walk away. Meanwhile, she wiggled over to the passenger's seat, and tried her best to make herself look invisible. Her decoy passed the valet, and she dropped the keys into his hand. "Take care of my baby, alright, sugar?" Her lips moved as she said the words, and she could see the valet responding.  
  
He nodded. "Don't worry. She'll be safe with me." She then saw him walk over to the car, and stepped in. Quickly, she stuck her hand out and removed the keys from the engine, dropping them into his palm. He paused, feeling the new weight of the keys in his hand. But the car seemed to call him, and he ignored that, starting the car up. She hoped that the car sounded like a Ferrari would. Not that she would know.  
  
Oddly enough, the guy's eyes suddenly seemed to glow blue. Odd. Adrienne wondered. She waited, and then felt the car move as he stepped on the accelerator. Sweat beads glistened on her forehead, as she struggle to maintain three illusions at the same time. She'd never attempted anything like this before, and she felt her control slowly slip. She struggled to rush her copy into the club, and hopefully into the crowd, before she let it fade away. When she finally did, she let it melt away, relief overtaking her.  
  
As expected, he drove into the multi-story parking lots, stopped the car to sign in, and then drove out the other way. Breathing a sigh of relief, she let the other two illusions disappear. "Pretty smooth. I gotta give you credit for coming up with such a good idea. Stealing nice cars by working as a valet for the most exclusive nightclub in town."  
  
He started, and looked at her in shock, before swerving off the road. He swore loudly, and then parked the car. "Who the hell are you?! And why are you in this car? I thought you'd just given me the keys to this- car…" He trailed off, realizing that this was no Ferrari he was driving.  
  
"H-how did you do that?!" He looked at the petite Chinese girl sitting beside him in the car, a smug, satisfied smile on her face. "The way you seem to be an invincible car booster. I'm a mutant, Jay. And I've got a proposition to make to you, Jay. One that you couldn't possibly turn down."  
  
* * *  
  
It was almost 4 in the morning, and San Diego was totally silent. Two lone figures walking down the street were the only ones who broke the silence, their laughter echoing in the silence of the night. The smaller of the two was leaning heavily against the other one, her giggles making the most of the noise that the pair was creating.  
  
They stumbled and weaved to and fro, and it was clear that neither of them were exactly sober, although it was clear that the man was much more so than his date. Once they reached the entrance of a 3 story brownstone apartment, they stopped, and the man tried his best to get his keys, groping for them in his pant pockets first, and then in the various pockets both on the inside and outside of his trench coat, all the while trying to support his very drunk date.  
  
The woman giggled, and snuggled against him. "Whatcha doin', Gabe?" She murmured, a smile on her face.  
  
He finally fished out his house keys, and fiddled with them, doing his best to open the door when his date was doing her best to get in his way. "Nothing, Skye. Just trying to open the door so that we can get upstairs." His eyes then bugged out, as her hand found its way south. A little too far south for public exposure, in Gabe's opinion. "Uh, getting frisky, huh? Well, you think it can wait till we can upstairs? Because this whole… public thing isn't a good idea."  
  
Just then, he heard a loud gasp behind him, and then a high voice yelling out his name. "Gabriel LaFacentia!!" He spun around, Skye in one arm, both of them startled by this sudden intrusion on their privacy. To Gabe's shock, his good friend Carey stood in front of him. Carey's face was twisted in a mixture of confusion and shock, and he looked like he was going to cry. His hand came up, and he slapped Gabe hard, across his cheek. "Bitch!!" Shrilled Carey. He then turned around, and stalked off.  
  
Gabe was left standing there, astounded, his jaw practically hitting the ground. Since when had Carey become gay? And since when had Carey thought that he-was-his-… There's something fishy about this. Then, Skye turned around to look at him in fury. "And here I was thinking that you were straight!!" She shoved Gabe away, and stomped off in the opposite direction that Carey had taken. "Liar!!"  
  
Gabe was completely incapable of speech. He'd just been 'dumped' by his good friend, and he'd also been dumped by the hottest date he'd had in ages. What the hell is going on?! Rooted to the spot, he was unable to do anything. So, he said the first thing that came to mind. "Come on, baby! Don't go!"  
  
The worst possible response he could have imagined came back to him. "Which one?!" hollered both Carey and Skye. Gabe nearly fainted. He had to choose? After a few torturous moments, he decided to chase after Carey. This had better be DAMN important, because if it wasn't, Carey was going to find himself floating in the Pacific ocean in the morning, limbs broken, and castrated to boot. Gabe quickly jogged down the street after Carey.  
  
Meanwhile, Carey had rounded the corner of the building, and he nearly collapsed in laughter. The look on Gabe's face was inimitable. This was certainly his best entrance yet. And this was payback for all the times that Gabe had ruined Carey's dates. He congratulated himself mentally. Dang, but you're one heckuva actor, Care. And if he knew his good friend, he would've chased after him, and he would be rounding the corner right about… Now.  
  
The swing came right on time, and Carey artfully dodged the blow. Gabe followed up his first punch with a right hook, and instead of avoiding it, Carey partially liquefied the side of his head, letting the punch pass right through before solidifying himself again. He couldn't help himself, and started laughing madly again. "Dude, you should've seen the look on your face. I swear, I should've taken a Polaroid."  
  
"Shut up." Muttered Gabe. He walked over to Carey's side, and sat down beside him. "You owe me big time. I could've gone after Skye. Which reminds me. Next time you wanna get my attention, call, ok? That's what THESE-" he waved his little Nokia phone in front of Carey's face to emphasize his point. "Are for."  
  
Carey paused, contemplating his friend's plea. "Nah. I'll stick with this method. And besides, need I remind you how many dates you've stolen from me in the past? It's gotten to the point where I won't even let a woman that I'm interested in within a 10-mile radius of you."  
  
"So you're not gay."  
  
"Duh! I'm just doing this for a good laugh."  
  
Gabe heaved a mental sigh of relief. He had nothing against homosexuals, but the thought that his friend might have homosexual tendencies towards HIM was rather… creepy.  
  
"So, did you wanna talk, or are you so free and wealthy that you'd travel all the way down here from Frisco just so that you could personally torment me for the fun of it?"  
  
" Neither one. I wanted to talk to you, but not here. C'mon, I've been waiting for you to come back for hours. There's a diner not far from here. We'll talk there. I'm STARVED." The two friends got up, and ambled off in the direction of the diner.  
  
* * *  
  
5 Minutes Later  
  
* * *  
  
After the two friends had their orders taken by a waitress, they got down to business. Gabe watched the waitress walk over to her companions. They both glanced their way, and then turned back to each other, smiling. "So, what did you have to offer? Because you definitely did NOT come all the way down from Frisco just to torment me. You're busy and you're not rich, either, so out with it."  
  
Carey took a sip of the coffee and nearly gagged. He'd never been a coffee person. The only coffee he'd ever drink on a regular basis was the Starbucks Frappacino. Showed just how much of a man he really was. A wry smile quirked the corner of his mouth at that thought. "My sister came up with an idea for a heist. It's crazy, but with the right crew, it just might fly."  
  
"How crazy?" Gabe knew Carey well enough to know just what Carey thought was crazy, and their views of what really was 'crazy' often differed.  
  
Carey unfolded a thin, well-worn piece of newspaper and put it in front of Gabe. "This guy. 8 weeks from now, his place." He was about to take another sip of coffee, when he remembered his aversion to coffee, and slowly pushed the cup away.  
  
Gabe picked up the newspaper, and glanced through it. He whistled softly. "Crazy is right. The First Lady? Combined with this guy's resources? What're you guys planning to steal? Sounds legit, as far as I'm concerned."  
  
"Not. Think black market weapons and terrorists."  
  
Gabe just shook his head. "What's the take? And what kind of weapons will be involved?"  
  
Carey shook his head. "Addy hasn't told me everything yet. But she said that the take is at least 40-50 million. Easily over 100, if things go well."  
  
"I can see why you're taking the risk. But dude, your sis has been straight for all her life. How do you know that she's gonna be able to pull this thing off? That's a lot of trust there. You don't even know what you're gonna be stealing." The concern was apparent in Gabe's voice.  
  
"Trust me, don't let that fool you. She's more devious than many of the pros I know. Ever tried playing chess with her?"  
  
"That geeky little thing that you call your sister? No thanks. Wouldn't be able to stand that much close contact for too long a period of time. I'd be afraid that she'd start swooning over me or something." Gabe grinned at Carey, knowing that Carey knew very well that he was only joking.  
  
Carey still gave his friend a mock glare. "Hey, watch it. That's my sister you're talking about. And be glad we have such a history together. Nobody else would've been able to get away with saying that about Addy. And besides, she doesn't look anything like she used to."  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
"I'll prove it. I've got a picture with me right here." Carey dug into his pocket for his wallet and fished out a picture that the two of them had taken on a recent trip to Hong Kong. The both of them actually looked good in the picture, which was a miracle, since Adrienne had been ruining shot after shot with prank after prank.  
  
Gabe took the picture and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Yeah, right." He snorted. "That is one burnin' hunk of babe. You expect me to believe that SHE'S your sister?"  
  
Carey glared daggers at Gabe. "Now you're really pushing it."  
  
Gabe knew when to shut up. One did not get on Carey's bad side. "So this is your sister?"  
  
Carey signaled for the check, and he ignored Gabe's last question. The waitress came over, and dropped the check onto their table, along with another piece of paper. He picked it up, and unfolded it. 'Call us.' It read, along with two names and numbers scribbled on the bottom. He passed the note to Gabe. "Come on, let's go." Setting the money onto the table, he got up and left.  
  
Gabe double-timed after him. "Wait, so when am I gonna see her again? I mean, we're gonna go meet up with her after this, right?" 


	4. L'Aigle d'Or and Breakfast for Dinner

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Ok, finally, here's the 4th chapter. I've gotta tell you guys that I really have to keep my writing to one chapter a week now. I've got to write some papers, and I'm not going to have much time during the week to work on this. And could some of you guys help me? You see, I'm using MS Word to write this up, and for some reason, italics and bold words don't show up in FF.net. Yet, I see people being able to do that. Could one of you kind people perhaps enlighten me? It's not completely necessary, but having italics and bold words do give me a certain flexibility when trying to convey certain feelings.  
  
Disclaimers: Addy and Carey belong to yours truly, and Fayre and Eclipse belong to Icequeen and Phoenixdreams respectively.  
  
Oh, and to everyone who reviewed, thank you soooo much!! Reviews really make my day. I'm a sucker for praise. To Sorceire and Pantera, I'm honored that you're reading this even though your characters aren't in it, and to Phoenixdreams… you liked the Psylocke fic? You really, really liked it? I am sooo happy!! XD This has convinced me to start writing all over again. Once I've finished this, of course. I'm sorry, but I've resolved to do only one story at a time. This ensures maximum quality, and it works since I don't have the time to do more than one story at a time. So I'll finish this, then I'll finish the Psylocke fic. And then I'll get started on my next one- I already have the plot in my head. It's going to be a Batman Beyond/Witchblade crossover. But at this rate, that's gonna take a few months at least, so cross your fingers!  
  
* * * *  
  
Cascade Cliffs, Montana  
  
* * * *  
  
Adrienne practically stumbled out of the plane. Her face was green, and combined with the redness of her sunburned face (which had, unfortunately, started to peel), made her look like the Grinch who stole Christmas. The plane flight had been TERRIBLE. Turbulence, sunburn, and bad, rock hard airplane peanuts had joined forces to make this one of the worst flights Adrienne had ever taken. But, she really didn't have much of a choice. After all, Amethyst had said that this was the fastest way to get to- in short, the middle of nowhere. The middle of nowhere that just happened to be named Cascade Cliffs, Montana. I'm never getting on one of THOSE again after this. Ever. The mere thought about even getting back on that plane for the return flight back made her even more uncomfortable.  
  
She heaved her duffel bag up and looked out onto the airport tarmac. This wasn't an airport. This was a long strip of highway set up in the mountains, with a small building nearby that double up as the terminal. She then groaned at the weight of her bag. Carey had told her to pack some heavier clothes, as it was still pretty cold up in the mountains. So she'd called Amethyst, gotten a shopping allowance, and went nuts. And this is what I get for my greed- sore, strained arms and cranky airplanes. The thought occurred to her that if that was what happened to her when she got greedy, she'd better cancel the mission now. Then, she swatted it to the back of her mind, and shook her head. Nah.  
  
Amazingly enough, there was a car rental place at the 'airport', and sure enough, Amethyst had arranged for a car for her. Well, perhaps it would've been more accurate to call this… THING masquerading as a truck a beat up pile of junk. Adrienne sincerely hoped that it was reliable enough, because she definitely did NOT want to have it break down on her in the middle of nowhere. She sighed, and heaved her bag over into the cargo area of the truck. She'd never envisioned herself driving a truck. Nor would she ever have wanted to. It really was amazing how circumstances could force one to change one's expectations and outlooks.  
  
* * *  
  
2 Hours Later  
  
* * *  
  
Adrienne was relieved as she finally pulled over into was vaguely resembled a town. The place had so many back roads and twists and turns that it had taken her a couple of hours to drive over a hill. Throw in the couple of times that she was sure the truck had nearly broken down on her and it all amounted up to be one VERY interesting ride. I never knew LDD (Long Distance Driving) could be so… interesting. She blew out her breath, and sat there for awhile. Well, then, better get some dinner into you, and figure out how to find this Fayre Donnelly, and figure out exactly where she stayed with that address that Carey had given her.  
  
She drove up to a small diner that had to be the heart of the town's social life and parked there. Getting off, she walked into the diner, and was immediately assailed with all the smells and sounds of a small diner filled to the brim with people who had all just come to relax and engage in the town gossip after a hard day's work. And it sure SMELLS like it, too. The warmth of the diner encouraged the mingling of the wonderful smells of food cooking with the vague sourness of dried-up perspiration, and the potent mixture hit Adrienne like a truck.  
  
She wove around the tables and found a two-person booth in the corner of the diner that was unoccupied. She sunk gratefully into it, and soon, a plump, platinum blond, red-faced waitress with a warm, pleasant smile came over to serve her. "Well, hiya, Hon. I'm Marge. Never seen you around before. Are you new around these parts?"  
  
Adrienne smiled, grateful for the warm welcome. "Sort of. I'm actually looking for somebody. I'm not sure if you know who she is? Fayre Donnelly?"  
  
A look of recognition dawned on the waitress' face. "Ah, Fairy. She's pretty well known around these parts. So you want to go and find her now, or order your dinner first?"  
  
"Oh, definitely the dinner. I'm starved. So what do you recommend?"  
  
"Oh, the bacon, eggs, flapjacks and sausage always sell. It's good for anytime of the day, not just for breakfast. Cookie's bacon and cheese hamburger's also pretty popular. And the kids always love the milkshakes."  
  
"Hmm…." Breakfast right now sounded good. "I'll have the bacon, eggs, flapjacks and sausage. And coffee will be a godsend."  
  
"Comin' right up. How do you like your eggs?"  
  
"Scrambled, please. Oh, and one more thing. Do you think you could give me directions to her place afterwards? I have her address, but now that it's dark, it's not gonna be very useful."  
  
"Sure thing, hon. I'll even call her and tell her that you're comin' over. It's not a good idea to surprise Fairy. Things get ugly when that happens. Now you just sit there and hang on a little longer, and I'll have your dinner over in a jiffy."  
  
Adrienne sighed and leaned back. Finally, a little bit of rest. She decided to see how things were going with Amethyst, but then, she decided against it, thinking that she would probably have things under control in LA. I swear, I am sick and tired of moving around. All this traveling is exhausting me. The sooner we get our crew together, the better.  
  
Then, to her relief, her coffee arrived. "I'm sorry this took so long, Hon, but I had to brew a fresh pot. Here you go. You look like you could use it. Your food's on its way. And as soon as I get a chance, I'll call Fairy, and she'll be over here ASAP. I guarantee that you'll be talkin' to her by the time you're done with your dinner."  
  
"Thanks." Adrienne was genuinely grateful to the kindly waitress for helping her out. "I really appreciate this."  
  
"It's nothin'. You remind me of one of my own, and I know that if I were your ma, I wouldn't want to have to worry about you. Besides, the good Lord would want us to help each other, huh? Now you sit tight, and just wait for your dinner to come, ok?"  
  
* * * *  
  
Ontario, Canada  
  
* * * *  
  
Carey shivered as he stepped out into the cold. It was supposed to be springtime in Canada, but who could forgive him if he wasn't used to the cold? He lived in California, for crying out loud. He pulled the collar of his trench coat up, and jammed his hands into his pockets. The sooner he found Eclipse, the better. He just wanted to get out of the cold.  
  
After a short ride in the taxi, he managed to arrive at his destination. He quickly paid for the fare and got out. The taxi had dropped him off in a slightly shabby area of Ontario, where the people weren't exactly poor, but they certainly weren't rich, either. The neighborhood was relatively clean, and it was safe enough to walk around in the daytime, although night was a completely different matter. This seemed like a place where Eclipse would hide out, all right.  
  
Word had it on the street that Eclipse was on the run again. It seems that something had happened, and she was a bit of a wanted person. But then again, weren't they all wanted? Raykel was in trouble with a big honcho (although he had absolutely no idea who it was- they didn't discuss such things in this business), and he and Gabe had been in their fair share of scrapes. Jay was a big-time car booster, the best in the business, and that made him every Auto Theft police department's living nightmare. In fact, the only people he could be certain were NOT wanted by somebody were Adrienne, and maybe, just maybe, Amethyst. She often funded such operations, but it was a behind-the-scenes thing, and it was unlikely that anybody would really know about her illegitimate business dealings.  
  
He looked up at the sign above the shabby wooden door. The wooden sign had seen it's own share of wear and tear, but in the right light, one could faintly read the words "Night's Pub". It was a fitting name for a place where types such as him often gathered to do some anonymous socializing, gossiping, and drinking. The neighborhood was quiet enough that the cops weren't stationed here 24/7, but at the same time, shady enough that a guy could come here and do a bit of drinking with no questions asked. And this kind of place was perfect for a person like Eclipse to take temporary refuge in.  
  
He sighed. I'm not even sure whether she's here. But I suppose this is as good a place to start as any. Although THAT was not a comforting thought. Trying to find a shape shifter who didn't want to be found was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Deciding that he had stood outside the pub long enough, he stepped forward, and pushed the doors open. The darkness was pungent, reeking with the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke. He paused, giving himself a moment to let his eyes adjust.  
  
It was a common tactic to have the place dark. That way, anybody who first came in was momentarily blinded, and had to pause before proceeding. The platform in front of the door extended for a few steps before it suddenly dropped into a flight of precarious steps, and anybody who didn't know about them would have a very unpleasant surprise in store for them. So, it was prudent to wait until one could see properly again. In addition, the dimness of the pub ensured that whoever was inside at the moment could give the newcomer a good once over; just to see what their next course of action was. Fleeing was always an option, if one felt that one's safety was compromised, and attacking somebody whom one had a grudge with was also a course that some might take. But most of the time, the patrons simply filed the newcomer away into a corner of their minds, returning to mind their own business after a few moments. If the newcomer fell, a good laugh or two would be ensured.  
  
But always, minding one's own business would be a very prudent choice of action. Getting in trouble with this lot was not a good idea.  
  
Carey made his way down the steps, and headed over to the counter, and the bartender behind it. It was a little early in the evening for alcohol, but what the heck, he didn't have to drive anyways. "Tequila, on the rocks."  
  
The bartender, a scruffy old man in his late 40's, grunted in acknowledgement and set to work. He certainly goes with the décor of this place. Old and scruffy. Carey's order was set in front of him, and he took a seat, surveying the area. He knew that looking this way for Eclipse was hopeless, but trying never hurt anyone. "Hey, bartender. You know of anyone named Eclipse who's been through here recently?"  
  
The old man stared at Carey as if he had just sprouted a third nostril. "You're in the wrong place, kid. I suggest you get out before something happens to you."  
  
Carey sighed. That had come out completely wrong. "Forget it."  
  
Meanwhile, in the corner of the dim bar, under the shadows of the counter, a small mouse nibbled at a crumb, it's pink nose twitching as it sniffed the air, and it's large ears twisting this way and that, honing in on various sounds that filtered out from the murmured conversations taking place in the various corners of the shady pub. It paused, as it caught a very familiar word. "… named Eclipse who's been through here recently?"  
  
Interesting. This could be risky, but one never gained profit without taking risks. Jumping in would not be prudent, however. So testing the water was a must. The mouse looked around, making sure that the way was clear, before scurrying away to the restroom. She would change shape there. And then, she would see why this person was looking for her.  
  
Carey sipped at his drink, trying to think of another way to go about looking for Eclipse. He was beginning to get frustrated. He'd never expected finding her to be easy, but at this rate, he might as well give up. Having a shape shifter would be an invaluable asset, but it wasn't entirely necessary. He still needed to look some others up, because a crew of 5 would not be enough to pull this off.  
  
Just then, he saw somebody slip into the seat beside him. It was a middle aged man, short, who was a little on the stout side. His whiskers were slightly dirty, and his teeth were yellow, stained from years of cigarette smoking, no doubt. Carey knew because the man had grinned toothily at him shortly after he'd looked at him. This immediately put Carey on edge. People here didn't smile.  
  
"Can I help you?" Despite his suspicion, it was always a good idea to remain polite. No sense angering somebody when there was no need to do so. He had his own share of enemies, and really wasn't keen to add more people to this list.  
  
"Word around here is that you're askin' around for Eclipse."  
  
"What's it to you?"  
  
"I might be able to help. So why are you lookin' for her?"  
  
"Some guy hired me to find her for him."  
  
She immediately began to be suspicious. "Who is he?"  
  
"Sounds like an interrogation." Mused Carey, as he nursed his drink. "What are you, some kind of cop?" He kept his eyes on the bartender, who was 'inconspicuously' drying shot glasses at the other end of the counter.  
  
The old man mentally narrowed his eyes. Does he know? One thing was certain, this wasn't going anywhere. Time to take another risk. "Look, I've got… connections to her. But I have to be… careful."  
  
Carey pondered about accepting this offer. Something told him that he was very close. Maybe, maybe he just might be able to get Eclipse on his crew after all. Addy wouldn't like you calling it 'your crew'. He was rather amused at that thought. Well, it is my crew. If she's upset, then she's just gonna have to deal with it. "The guy's called Carey Li."  
  
It was all she could do to prevent herself from starting. That was one person she'd never expected. And since when had Carey started to hire people to do his work for him? Li was known for his scrupulous attention to detail. He would never trust others to do his work for him. Unless… this was Li himself. A faint smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Smart, very smart. He'd nearly had her fooled. Well, two could play this game.  
  
"Talk ain't cheap." The simple statement hung in the air, and she waited for his response.  
  
Carey sighed. Frankly, he wasn't surprised that this hadn't happened sooner. He reached for his wallet, and opened it. He drew out a US 50 dollar note, and slid it over the counter to the informant. "Talk."  
  
She picked up the note, rubbing it between her now thick, rough fingers. Not bad. "Tomorrow, at the L'Aigle d'Or restaurant in downtown Ontario. 12 o'clock pm sharp. Get a table for two. She'll approach you, so don't bother looking for her. G'night, sir." The man got up, and tipped his hat to Carey. He then left, pulling his coat tighter about him as he stepped out into the chilly night air.  
  
Carey sighed. I suppose I should try and book a table at that place. Goodness knows that it's not gonna be easy.  
  
* * * *  
  
Cascade Cliffs, Montana  
  
* * * *  
  
Adrienne sighed in pleasure as she put her fork and knife down. Dinner had been fantastic. Over the course of her long, and very quiet dinner, the after-work crowd at the diner had thinned out, most of the people going home to eat dinner with their families. There was going to be work tomorrow, and they'd wanted to squeeze in some quality time with their families before they went to bed. Marge had come and gone, always showing up at the perfect time, filling Adrienne's coffee cup just before it was empty. I can see why Fayre decided to settle down here. It's peaceful, quiet, serene. The people here are good, too. Kind, friendly, and generous. The darker side of civilization hadn't ravaged this town yet. It was all the more reason to treat this place like the haven that it was. Adrienne made a mental note to find and settle down in a place like this after the heist. She could do without the dark, crowded city from time to time.  
  
Suddenly, a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye then startled her. Looking up, her eyes met with a pair of deep blue eyes, set in a face framed by silky jet-black hair. "Hey! You must be Adrienne. Marge said you were looking for me. Mind if I take a seat?"  
  
Adrienne grinned back at the newcomer, her friendly greeting contagious. "Please do. You're quite the godsend. I've been looking for you for the past day or so. You're Fayre, right?"  
  
"Call me Fairy. Most of the people around here do. And I'm sorry that I took so long to come over. I was busy, taking a shower."  
  
"What're you apologizing for? I should be the one saying sorry. I should've gone looking for you, not the other way around. I'm exhilarated that you came down here. That way I don't have to go back out into the cold."  
  
Fayre laughed. "Anything for Marge. And you're not from around here, are you? We 'hill billies' around here think this is warm. It's lovely weather, compared to what we have during winter."  
  
"Riiiight. Whatever. You know, don't mind me saying this, but at first, I couldn't understand why on earth you would come here to live. But now, after spending some time here, I can understand. Maybe, after I retire, I might do something similar. Just with someplace warmer."  
  
"A little early to be talking about your retirement, huh?"  
  
"Not as early as you think." Adrienne leaned forward, and lowered her voice a notch. "Fairy, I'm gonna make a proposition to you. One that is impossible to pass up. And if you accept, and it carries through, you'll be able to retire permanently in, oh, say 3 months time, a very rich and happy woman."  
  
Fayre raised one eyebrow. "That's a very impressive promise."  
  
"You're a person with impressive skills. If you accept, you'll be en route to LA tomorrow morning, preparing to immerse yourself in the challenge of a lifetime."  
  
"What if I choose not to accept?"  
  
"You can come back here, to your peaceful existence. No obligation. Except of course, your silence."  
  
"Hm." Fayre's eyes took on a distant look as she thought about her decision. "Ok then. I'm in."  
  
* * *  
  
Ontario, Canada  
  
* * *  
  
The Next Day  
  
* * *  
  
Carey glanced around the busy French restaurant, keeping a sharp eye out for anybody who might be approaching him. It had been hard enough to get a table on such short notice, and he certainly didn't want it to go to waste. Which means you might as well order, idiot. He said that Eclipse would approach you. So why're you racking your brains? He reluctantly acknowledged the common sense of his inner voice, and so, he picked up the menu, getting ready to order his lunch.  
  
The waiter took his order, and he ordered a bottle of wine to go with his lunch. The food came, and Carey sat through the appetizer, the main course, and was getting ready to select the after meal cheeses when she finally showed up. A leggy blond Amazon slid into the chair opposite his, flashing a dazzling white smile at him. "I'm sorry, hon." She leaned forward, and kissed Carey full on the lips, startling him in her sudden invasion of his privacy. It was really all he could do to stop himself from pulling away. "I was a little held up at work. The photographer just insisted on taking more pictures until he got them absolutely perfect." Spying the waiter and the cart of cheeses that he was pushing, she arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "I see you didn't wait for me, huh?"  
  
"Well, uh, I didn't think that you were gonna show up." That was the truth, and the only answer he could think of right now. He finally understood how Gabe had felt when he had ambushed him. "W-would you like to have a drink?" They had to keep up appearances.  
  
"Of course. I'll just have what you're having." She nodded at the wine in his glass.  
  
Carey looked expectantly at the waiter. "Coming right up, sir. And which cheeses would you like to have? I believe you hadn't made your selection just yet." The stranger who had just kissed him set about ordering cheeses for the two of them, allowing Carey some blessed time to gather his wits about him and figure out just what the hell was going on here.  
  
Carey looked at the woman sitting opposite him, her platinum blond hair reflecting the sunlight streaming through from the window. He still wasn't completely sure that she was Eclipse, but at this point in time, he really didn't have a choice as to whether or not he should go along with her. But, nobody else would have known about his appointment here at L'Aigle d'Or with the shape shifter. She turned back to him after she had finished ordering.  
  
"Well, Carey, honey, you wanted to talk to me about something?"  
  
He had to verify that this was really Eclipse. He couldn't tell just anyone about the heist. So, he decided to test her. "How do you know about me?"  
  
The previous warmth that had been present in her speech and expression melted away to reveal stony features and hard eyes. "Heard you were looking for Eclipse. Well, you wanted to talk to her, and you got what you wanted. Don't think that your little charade last night didn't fool me."  
  
"It was just a precaution." Carey's eyes narrowed a little, and his voice lowered a notch. He had forgotten just how much of a pain Eclipse could be. Still, her skills were worth braving her personality faults. "I've got an offer to make."  
  
"Talk, because I'm starting to get impatient. I'm not here to waste my time. And if I find that you've done just that, I'm going to get very uspet. And you know that you DON'T want that to happen."  
  
"It's a heist. A big one. With an estimated take of at least 40 million US dollars."  
  
"I'm in." The abruptness of her decision astounded Carey. Most people needed some time to consider their options. She hadn't even bothered to ask about the details. There was something suspicious about this whole thing.  
  
"It's because you're in trouble, aren't you?"  
  
"You were the one looking for me. Don't ask questions." She snapped.  
  
"Very well, then." He opened his jacket, and reached his hand in to take out an envelope. He handed it to her, and she took it, fingering the stationary delicately. "There's a ticket to LA inside, along with a fake passport and ID. There's a number to call when you reach LA. Follow the directions that it gives you. I suggest that you leave as soon as possible, because that plane leaves in a short while. Now, if you would excuse me." He pushed his chair back, and got up. "Have a nice flight."  
  
He then turned and walked out of the restaurant, leaving Eclipse to pick up the tab. Bitch. The hairs on her neck bristled. She hadn't even eaten anything. Signaling for the check, she quickly paid, and left. He wasn't kidding when he said that the plane was leaving soon. In an hours time, to be exact.  
  
Bitch. 


	5. It's Cajun!!

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 5

*          *          *          *

Ok, I know that this is against my better judgment, but I'm trying to sneak in a bit of writing here and there in between studying and homework and chip away at this chapter. It's not too hard, since I've already got all my stuff planned out in my head. This time, the story's taking a different spin, too. I'm actually working at plot development here instead of introducing the crew! Huzzah! And an actual canon character's gonna appear in this part, too. Who he is, and what part he's gonna play in the whole thing… well, you'll just haveta wait and see. 

And Icequeen, that has to be the greatest compliment I've received so far. My character's so good that somebody's fallen in love with him? J You know, if you wanna ask for, ahem, * something * to happen between Fayre and Care, now's the time to ask. There was originally supposed to be something going on between Care and Amethyst (If you guys haven't picked up on that already), but I can always make changes. It's still early enough that I can make changes to the story. That's if, of course, you want to. Hey, it's called an interactive fic for a reason, right? Same goes for the rest of you guys- now's the time to request pairings or suggest any plot bunnies. Can't guarantee that I'll use all of them, but I'll certainly do my best. J 

*          *          *

Beverly Hills, Los Angeles

*          *          *

The phone sitting on the table beside Amethyst's bed jumped into life, it's insistent ringing causing its owner to come running from her hot shower. Grumbling, she brought the receiver to her ear. "Amethyst here."

"Hey, Amy. Did I catch you at a bad time?" Adrienne's voice sounded clearly through the phone. Amethyst glared into the phone, trying to intimidate the younger woman on the other end of the phone line, ignoring the fact that the source of her aggravation was a thousand miles away and completely impervious to her stare. This better be important.

Amethyst huffed. "Sort of. What did you want to talk about?" 

"Just wanted to check if the crew that we've recruited so far have arrived at your place. I'm in Cascade Cliffs right now, getting ready to leave and look for the next one on the list."

"Well, Jay just got here yesterday. He's watching a DVD with Raykel in the den. I think it was Gone in 60 Seconds. He didn't seem too happy to watch that, muttering something about that movie being inaccurate. But Raykel's charms won over in the end. I'm positive that she used a bit of her power to make him agree with her- natural beauty wasn't enough to make a disgruntled car booster agree to watch THAT movie with her. Then again, I could be mistaken. Carey also mentioned that his friend Gabe should be arriving any time now. He hasn't called in yet to report, but I got a message from him regarding Eclipse. She'll be here in a few hours time." Joy. That one sure brightens up your day. The thought about the rather antagonistic shape shifter was inevitable. "But for the time being, it's pretty quiet. Quiet enough for me to take a break from babysitting to eke out a quick shower." The hint was scathingly obvious.

Adrienne snorted derisively. "Don't blame me, I'm just calling to 'report', as you put it. And it's good news, too. Fayre's with us."

Whatever 'enmity' had existed between the two for interrupting Amethyst's shower dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. "That's great. And I don't think that you two should board separate planes just yet. I've obtained the location of the blueprints to our target's mansion, including the layout of his vault. I think it's a good idea if you and Raykel pay that place a visit and make a few Xeroxes, hm?" 

Adrienne paused. "You think?"

Amethyst shrugged. "I dunno. But I think that you should take care of that first. Time's a-wasting, and crewmembers can always wait a day. It's also perfect, since Raykel is on site and isn't busy right now."

"What does Carey think?"  

"He never mentioned anything about this. Especially since this news is hot off the press. He probably doesn't even know about it. Tell you what. You get on that plane with Fayre and head back here first. I'll try and contact brother dearest and see what he says. By the time you're back here, I should have his answer. If he doesn't give the go-ahead, which I think is highly unlikely, you can always fly to your next destination from here. Sound good?"

Adrienne mulled over it for a few moments. There didn't seem to be any problems with the proposition. "Yeah, sure, why not? I'll see you in a few hours, then. Think you can hold down the fort till I get back?"

"Once I get my shower, yeah." 

Adrienne rolled her eyes. "Alright, I can take a hint. I'll get off the line now. Later." And she hung up. She turned around to see Fayre standing behind her. "Ok, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that I'm gonna have company on the flight to LA. You'd better hurry, or we'll miss the plane."

Adrienne picked up her bags and hurried after Fayre, who was already on her way out the door of the building. "Right. " She muttered to herself. "That plane's only carrying two passengers. Like they're gonna leave without them."

*          *          *          *

New Orleans, Mississippi

*          *          *          

Carey walked down the busy street, rubbing elbows with the crowd, letting the flow of people take him in whatever direction they were headed. The hustle and bustle of a hundred different people going about their own business overwhelmed his senses, and he let the sounds and smells wash away all other thoughts, attuning himself to the crowd and his letting his senses take over. Where he was headed, he wasn't really sure. He knew who he was looking for, but he wasn't really concerned with that right now.

After about half an hour, he found himself at a row of waterfront market stalls, each of the different stalls marketing various kinds of fresh seafood caught fresh from the nearby waters. Carey paused, trying to regain a sense of his surroundings. He glanced around once or twice, and then grinned when he realized his luck. Somehow, he'd arrived only a few blocks from where he needed to be. This was a good day to be alive. Sticking his hands into his pockets, he started whistling a jaunty little tune as he started off towards the gambling parlor. 

Inside a small, smoky, cluttered bar, Remy LeBeau sat around a table with three other men, playing a game of morning poker. "Hm." One man threw down his cards. "Try t' beat that." 

One particularly dashing young man with rumpled brown hair, a 5 o'clock shadow and a pair of disconcertingly inhuman eyes grinned and put his hand of cards down. " 'Fraid Gambit's got t' d'sappoint ya, Mon ami."  The three other men growled and glared at the Cajun, and he smirked back at them in return, before reaching over to pick up the money that had been sitting at the center of the table. " Any o' ya'll care f' 'nother game?" 

"I would." All four of them looked up in surprise, startled that somebody would have interrupted their conversation. The stranger was a slim Chinese man, clean cut and well-groomed, with intense dark eyes and a bright smile. 

"Carey! I'd be glad t' have y' join th' game, but there ain't room f' 'nother player."

"We need to talk, Gambit." 

The Cajun took one look into his friend's eyes and immediately got up. "Let's go, then." Pocketing the money, the thief got up from his seat and nodded at his companions. " 'S been good t' play wit' y' boys. Gambit's gonna be back real soon." 

"Do us a favor and don't come back till we pick some more pockets. I'm fresh outta dough." Mumbled one of the men. It was wasted on the mutants, however, as they were already on their way out the door. "I swear, he cheats. No way anybody can win that many times in a row."

"Who doesn't?" said his friend around the cigarette dangling out of his mouth as he dealt the cards amongst the three of them. "Now quit yer whining and play poker." 

Outside, Carey and Gambit both walked side by side, weaving in and out of the crowd on the boardwalk. Both kept a watchful eye on the people milling around them, the silence between them comfortable as they got started on a pre-conversation ritual that always took place during the rare times that both friends actually met up with each other. 

Gambit's red gaze followed a plump blond lady as she stood facing the ocean, her back towards Gambit. When they passed her, he skillfully reached out a swift hand and plucked the wallet from her bag. Meanwhile, on the other side, Carey gently reached into the coat pocket of another gentleman as smartly dressed as he was, and he quickly palmed the wallet before slipping it into his own pocket. This continued for a good 5 minutes, until their pockets were too full to slip any more wallets in without there being a tell-tale bulge. They then casually made their way to another bar, where they both found a booth in the far corner, away from any prying ears. 

"I've got 8 here." Said Carey, counting the wallets that he had pilfered from the poor tourists. 

Gambit shook his head and grinned at Carey. "Next time, Mon ami, stick to conning people. Y' don't make a very good pickpocket, t'at's f' sure. Gambit here has 13. Lucky number, eh?" 

Carey looked suspiciously at Gambit's trench coat. It figured that he would be able to hide more wallets in that piece of cloth. Heck, that thing wasn't even fit to be called clothing any more- instead, it was a few yards of brown fabric barely held together at the seams by a few worn-out threads. Then, Carey grinned as he thought of the perfect insult. He pushed the wallets that he had pocketed over to his young friend, an evil glint in his eye. "Here, take these. You certainly need it."

The Cajun squinted at his friend, trying to discern if that smile was trouble. "What fer?" 

"To buy yourself a new jacket. You certainly could use a new one."

That did it. Remy LeBeau wasn't the smartest person in the world, but damned if he knew when somebody was insulting him. Besides, the smirk was a dead giveaway. "Y' askin' f' trouble, Li?" Gambit arched one eyebrow, and his tone was filled with mock seriousness.

"At the rate you're going, I don't need to ask for any. You're more than capable of finding plenty of that on your own, kid." The remark about "Kid" made Gambit's hair stand on end, and he glared at Carey, who in turn glared back at him with all the mock ferocity that Gambit was throwing at him. 

After moments of silence that dragged on for eternity, Carey finally broke out into laughter. The young Cajun quickly followed suit. "Dieu, y' haven't changed one bit, Carey." 

"Yeah, well, you've certainly grown up, rascal. Not the little twerp you once used to be, huh?" 

"T'ings change. So, Monsieur Li, why'd y' come to find lil' ol' Gambit? This Cajun's good f' nothin' b't pickin' pockets an' playin' poker, eh?"

"That's what you say. I've heard that you've become quite the accomplished thief."

"So?" Gambit toyed with a playing card that he had fished out of his pocket, flipping it back and forth between his fingers. 

"I've got a heist in the works that could use your skills. You'd feel right at home, and the take's gonna be huge."  

"Gambit hates t' turn down Monsieur Li, b't he's 'fraid he got n't much o' a choice." He pocketed the card, and leaned forward, his expression ceasing to be playful. It was rather surprising how the young man could go from playful to serious at the drop of a hat, really. Obviously, some of that roguish attitude was part of a façade that the young thief put up in public.

"I understand. The Thieves Guild?"

"Oui." Gambit nodded, trying to discern his friend's expression. He wasn't sure how Carey would take the rejection. Not to his surprise, the conman took it all in stride. 

"I'd suspected as much. Still, it was worth a try. It's good to see you again, Remy. Take care." Carey got up from the booth, and was about to walk away when he turned around to face the Cajun thief. "Oh, and another thing. If I don't get an invitation to your wedding, I'm gonna hunt you down. You know that, right?" 

"Dis Cajun may be foolish, but he defin'tly aint stupid." 

"Just warning you. Take care, kid." Carey then walked out of the bar, and melted into the crowd, disappearing from sight. 

Gambit waited for a while, and then walked up to the bartender. "Let' me use t' phone, Louie. Gambit needs to make a call s'mplace."

*          *          *          *

The Xavier Institute For Gifted Children, New York

*          *          *          *          

The phone jangled loudly, and loud, enthusiastic cries of "I'll Get It!!" echoed throughout the Institute's expansive grounds. A slim brunette teenager dressed in pink floated down from the ceiling, while a "Bamf" signaled the arrival of a strange looking boy covered in blue fur from halfway across the mansion. Meanwhile, a statuesque redhead ran in from the adjacent room, seeking to get to the phone first. All three teenagers grabbed the phone at the same time, and there was a momentary tug-of-war before the redhead won, not without the help of an invisible push that sent both other contenders flying. 

"Jean!!" Their wails were loud and complaining, as they both squawked at the indignity of losing the phone to the older girl and being pushed away by the telekinetic. She, however, was impervious to their cries.

"Hello! Duncan?"

The low, rumbling chuckle that sounded across the line, however, indicated that the caller was definitely NOT Duncan. "Sorry t' disapp't y', chere, but dis here isn't Duncan. Can I speak t' Stormy, please?" 

"Uh, sure." Nobody had ever called asking for 'Stormy.' Was this some friend of Ororo's?

"Who is it?" asked Kitty, doe-eyes brimming with hope that it might be for her. 

"Somebody asking for Ororo. Kurt, would you get her?"

"Uh, sure." The blue-furred boy teleported out of the room with another "Bamf". He returned a few seconds later with the regal Weather Witch. 

"It's for you." Said Jean, as she held the phone out. 

Storm nodded in thanks, and accepted the phone from the girl. Holding it to her ear, she spoke. "Hello?"

"Good t' hear fr'm y', Stormy."

"Remy! How are you? And why are you calling? And need I remind you yet again to stop calling me Stormy?"

The man on the other end of the line chuckled again, the purr caressing her ear. "Anyt'ing t' please de femme. And I'm callin' y' because o' a certain Monsieur Li who approached me just now 'bout a heist. N't sure what t' make o' it. Dat's why dis Cajun call y', Stormy."

This time, the woman didn't bother to correct her friend. To do so would have been futile. "Interesting. Isn't he the mutant conman?"

"Y' got dat one right, chere. I turned 'im down. Jus' t'ought dat y'd like t' know." 

"Yes, this information is very useful. Thank you, Remy. It's good to hear from you."

"Same 'ere. Take care, chere." With that, the Cajun hung up just as suddenly as he had called.

"Well, who was it?" Kitty cocked her head to one side, eyeing Storm inquisitively. 

The weather witch did not reply for a moment, until she realized that Kitty was waiting for an answer. "It was nothing. It was just an old friend of mine. If the three of you will excuse me, I need to talk to the Professor." She then got up, and left the room. 

"Man, that vas veird." Kurt looked at their mentor leaving the room, even more introspective and quiet than usual. 

"Yeah, I guess so." Said Jean. "I wonder who Remy is?" 

*          *          *

Mwahahahaha!! My first cliffhanger!! I was originally gonna do the stealing of the floor plans this chapter, but I'm tired of writing for the time being. Besides, I wanted to get this chapter out ASAP, before I get caught up in homework again. So, I've decided to be cruel and leave you guys hanging. Hey, blame it on Sorciere and all her cliffhangers. Well, you know the routine, don't forget to review, and may I remind y'all, now's the time to request any plot bunnies or pairings, etc, etc. 

Now good nite, everybody!! My warm, soft bed's a-callin'!! 


	6. Vacations and Tagalongs

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff Chapter 6 

*          *          *          *

_Author's Note:_

_Ok, yeah, I've gotten started on the next chapter. I'm not really the most patient person in the world… kinda clues you in when my favorite power is super speed, when I adore speedsters (Flash, Impulse, Quicksilver, you name it), when I watch Formula 1 racing and when I like fast cars. Go figure. So, not being of the very longsuffering type, I've decided to get this out ASAP, since I can understand exactly how all of you feel when it comes to waiting for a chapter to come out._

_And since I like being fast, I'll say then that whichever characters appear here belong to you-know-who, and Marvel characters belong to Marvel, and this plot idea's mine, and… I can't think of anybody else. Oh yeah, and I do have some more notes at the bottom to some of you guys, so don't skip them, ok?_

_And one last thing. For all you Anti-Xavier fans out there, sorry, but I decided to portray him as the nice, noble guy here. Call me incredibly naïve, gullible, or whatever, but I just see him as the respectable father figure whom everybody has a good opinion of. I'm not saying that he's an angel, but still, I'd rather keep him good. (For now, at least) And I apologize for the terrible Remy accent last chapter, and the not-so-good Kurt accent this chapter._

*          *          *          *

Los Angeles, California

*          *          *          *

Adrienne, Fayre, Gabe, and Raykel were all seated around the dining table in Amethyst's expansive mansion. The smooth marble countertop of the table was all but obscured with littered pieces of paper, cups of coffee, empty pizza boxes, half-eaten crusts and plates of leftover veggie burgers made by Lucia.

Frankly, Fayre was glad for the silence. When Lucia had asked if anybody had wanted dinner, the result had been disastrous. At the request of both Raykel and Fayre, Lucia had made veggie burgers, and while Fayre herself had followed Eclipse's lead in eating the burgers when she learned the other option was pepperoni and mushroom pizza with extra cheese, Adrienne and the two other guys had sworn off that, insisting that they'd die before taking a bite of such food. The arguing had continued for a good 20 minutes, with one side consisting of mostly females refusing to eat a meal that was 'nothing but baked flour and animal fat' and the others being adamant not to eat 'wimp's food'. The raucous racket only ended with Amethyst coming in from her study swearing to decapitate whoever was daring enough to make another peep regarding dinner. The two factions had finally settled down when they decided to order in pizza instead and left Lucia to her cooking. 

However, hunger now satiated, everybody was working quietly and efficiently, a true test to their professionalism, despite their rather childish behavior some time before. Both Adrienne and Raykel were sitting side-by-side now, heads bent, attention focused totally on the information in front of them. Jay had retreated to the den, his skills not being of much use to the crew at this point in time, and Eclipse was somewhere around. She definitely was _not_ the most social person around, that was for sure. Gabe was also studying the same plans that Adrienne and Raykel were working on, although _he_ was trying to be inconspicuous when it came to sneaking glances at their fearless leader. Every so often, he would come up with an excuse every now and then to ask Adrienne a question or two, or perhaps make a suggestion. She was honestly surprised that somebody as smooth as Gabe was so incapable of hiding his attraction. If Adrienne and Raykel weren't so absorbed with their work, they would have noticed by now. But busy as they were, all they noticed were the plans to the office that they were supposed to break into later that night.

And there he goes again. Fayre was actually enjoying herself, watching this whole drama unfold. She would have laughed if she could have. "Maybe we could go in from the top." Said Gabe.

"Nope." Muttered Raykel. "Doors are double locked, and they don't open from the inside."

"Windows?" asked Gabe.

"Nope. Laser shielded. Break the window, and the whole place goes off." Gabe opened his mouth, but Raykel anticipated that move, and cut him off before he could continue. "And no, _not_ breaking the windows and just opening them won't work."

"Because they don't open." Stated Adrienne simply. "If you wanted to get in without breaking the window, you'd literally have to unscrew it. Too much trouble, and somebody in the other buildings might see us."

"So we go in from the bottom? The security is heaviest there. I wouldn't go in that way." Gabe raised one eyebrow.

"That's because you're a conman." Raykel's answer was simple and factual. Up to this point, neither woman had yet to even look up from the table.

Gabe looked at the two of them suspiciously. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"You were the one who said that, not me." Raykel replied. A small smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Adrienne headed this whole thing off before it got too out of hand. Experience told her that Raykel was just playing with the admittedly _very_ handsome Gabe, but she wanted everybody to get along as much as possible throughout this whole heist. "I'm thinking that we should get Fayre to come in from the bottom and unlock the doors for us. What did you say your power was- invisibility?" 

 The last question was directed at Fayre, who had been sitting there, listening to the entire exchange, toying with a small knife that she had on her. "Yeah, that's right."

"Great." Adrienne pushed forward the piece of paper that she and Raykel had been looking at for the past hour or so since their dinner had started. "I've got it nearly all figured out. Where's everybody?" 

"Jay is in the den watching a movie, and Eclipse is…" Raykel trailed off, not sure where Eclipse was, when the shape shifter answered her question for her. Since she was in a house filled with mutants, she hadn't bothered to change to a more human form, but instead remained in her original form, which could be rather shocking at first. Cold, emotionless amethyst eyes gazed out from under shoulder grazing maroon hair that framed a face that was amazingly, a deep violet color.

"Right here. I see that we're finally going to get some real work done."

"Yeah." Adrienne pointedly ignored Eclipse's comment. "Call Jay here. We're going to have a meeting."

Eclipse stood there, glaring daggers at the recent college graduate. No way am I letting this… _kid_ boss me around. Her deadly gaze and lack of movement was an obvious statement about how she felt regarding Adrienne ordering her around.

"Fine." Adrienne sighed, the diva shape shifter truly testing her patience. "I'll go get him." She may have been annoyed at the woman, but the heist hadn't even started yet. She couldn't allow herself the luxury of getting upset with her. 

A few moments later, everybody who was to be in the crew was assembled in the dining room, with the exception of Amethyst, who was still in her study and was likely not going to be involved in the break-in later that night. "Here's the plan. We're going to split into two different groups. Gabe, Raykel and Eclipse will infiltrate the place from the front. Distract the guards, and when one of you guys get the keys, open the door leading in from the side of the building. Raykel and I will be waiting there. The other two will stay stationed at the front as a lookout, while the one who gets us the key will go to the observation booth and make sure that nobody sees Raykel and me getting the floor plans. Jay, can you get a van or something that will serve as a good transition vehicle? You'll be waiting in the alley; right there-" Adrienne pointed to the map that she had set up in front of all of them, on the dining table. "You'll have a good view of anybody coming into the parking lot as well, so you'll be another lookout as well. Everybody got that?"  

Murmurs of assent and nods echoed from the motley group of mutants. "Great. We leave in…" her voice trailed off as she looked at her watch. "3 hour's time. Jay, can you get a van by then?" 

The massive black man looked as if somebody had slugged him in the face. That _hurt_! But he then tried to regain control of his emotions and resumed his stoic expression. "No problem." 

Adrienne saw the expression on Jay's face and really felt sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way!! "Great. I suggest you get some rest before we start the mission." Heaven knows _I_ certainly need some. At this, the group slowly dispersed, each going to do their own thing. Adrienne watched Gabe walk away, and then trotted to catch up to Raykel, who was headed over to the pool. "Raykel, you know what we need to do once we get inside the office."

She nodded, keeping up her brisk pace. "Yeah."

Adrienne nodded, relieved that she had finally covered the last base. It wasn't likely that Raykel wouldn't know what to do, but still, she had to make sure. Now she could take her nap in peace. 

*          *          *          *

Xavier Institute for Gifted Students, New York

*          *          *          *

"What exactly are you worried about, Ororo?" Professor Charles Xavier, genius, mutant, telepath, and founder of the school upon which he and quite a number of other mutants resided in, leaned forward and gazed deep into said woman's eyes. The regal black woman looked back at him, sapphire eyes calm and unreadable. 

"I'm not worried about anything, Charles. I just think that perhaps I should… come clean about my past and some of the… acquaintances that I used to keep."

"Oh, really? And pray tell why should you tell me now?" Xavier knew plenty about the woman's more than unsavory past as a thief, but that was in a general sense. Ororo had never taken to mentioning much about her experience as a thief, and as a general rule, even less about her contacts in the criminal world. He could easily have gotten the information from her telepathically, but to have done so would not only have been unethical, but would have betrayed her trust in him. He treasured the weather witch as a dear friend of his, and would never have resorted to that except under the direst of circumstances.

He knew that Ororo would have told him should he have asked, but he respected her need for privacy, and established a policy that private information about his friends' and student's pasts were on a strict need-to-know basis. That meant prying only when it was absolutely necessary, like when a person's past would have put other people in danger. And since he'd never needed to know, he'd never asked.

"I just think that perhaps I should… tell you about the endeavors of a certain mutant whom I believe you might be interested in."

Charles raised one eyebrow. "I'm always looking forward to recruiting people to our cause, but what makes this one so interesting?" 

" Well, I haven't got many details, but it seems that a mutant is planning a very big heist. An acquaintance alerted me about it, and I got the feeling that perhaps you might have liked to step in and avert disaster."

"What disaster? Ororo, at this point, I really have nothing to go on. I'm surprised that you even came to me with so little information. Truth be told, mutants using their powers to help them eke out a life is not an uncommon situation. And while I certainly do not approve of this particular mutant resorting to such methods to make his or her living, I refuse to step in without good reason as to why I should do so. Whoever it is has the right to lead their own lives, Ororo."

She leaned back into the chair and sighed. I knew it would come down to this. How could I expect him to follow my warnings when all I've got right now is the word of a Cajun thief and gut instinct? Then, she received a sudden flash of inspiration. "Professor, what if you let me leave for a few weeks to do some… investigating? I'm sure that with enough time, I could come up with evidence." 

Xavier frowned mentally. She still insists on following this lead? But then he decided that having her away for a week or two could certainly do no harm. Ororo could use the chance to get out and relax every once in a while- spending all one's time shepherding rambunctious young teenagers, let alone mutant teenagers, could certainly drive one over the edge if cooped up too long. "Very well, then." He smiled warmly at Ororo. "Investigate this if you want to. Take the time off to follow the leads, and enjoy yourself while you're at it- you certainly could use a vacation. Would you like to take one of the helicopters, or would you like to travel by more mundane means?" 

"I'd rather take the commercial flights, Professor. And would you mind if I take one of your credit cards with me? I don't have much money on me, and I would certainly like to be able to pay for my expenses… I promise that I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

Xavier moved with her in his wheelchair, to the doors of the expansive library. "Don't worry about it, Ororo. I'll cover all the expenses. Consider this a paid vacation. You deserve it." 

Meanwhile, outside the door, Evan Daniels, nephew to Ororo Munroe, and Kurt Wagner, teleporter extraordinaire, crouched outside the doors of the library, straining to hear the conversation taking place inside. His curiosity piqued by the mysterious caller named Remy and Storm's equally mysterious actions afterwards, Kurt had asked both Jean and Kitty to join him in his spying, but both had refused, saying that to do so was underhand and rude. In the end, only Evan had been willing to collaborate with the German boy, as this involved his aunt directly. 

"Dude, can you hear anything?" Evan asked in a hushed whisper as the black boy pressed his ear as hard as he could to the massive oak door.

"Not a thing!" Complained his partner-in-crime. " Zere vas only something about taking a vacation… Vait, they're coming!!" At this announcement, the two boys scrambled off in different directions, just as the door swung open and the two adults walked out. 

"Thank you so much, Professor. I'll start packing right away." With that, the two adults headed down the corridor, away from Evan, who had been hiding behind the opened door, and Kurt, who had been hanging from the chandelier suspended from the ceiling. 

"Packing? For what?" asked an incredulous Evan.

"Vhat else? For zat vacation zat ze Professor promised Storm! I vish _I _could go." Kurt's tailed swished slowly along the floor, conveying his wistful expression better than any other words could have.

"Who said we couldn't go? Sides, I wanna skip that Geometry test on Monday. Come on!" With that, he tugged the rather surprised Kurt along with him, and they proceeded to run off towards their rooms, getting ready to tag along with Ororo on her investigation. 

*          *          *          *

_Mwahahahahaha!! Another cliffhanger. Yeah, ok, I fess up. I haven't finished the heist yet. Still. Sorry. It's just coming along just a wee bit slowly. :-P Yeah, I know, it's stupid, and this chapter might be a little boring 'cuz it's a transition one, but least we know that Storm's gonna go on vacation!! And she's gonna have tagalongs. As for my choice, well, I figured that these two were probably the ones most likely to do something like that, so I chose them. It's not because I'm a Kurrty (is that how you spell it?) fan, or whatever. Just something that seemed most likely. _

_And to Icequeen and Wolfwing- I will have both Amethyst and Fayre be linked with Carey in a romantic relationship, but one of them will not be in the form you expect, so be warned!! To Jillybean, I'll put Raykel in a relationship as well, but be warned, since you didn't say who you wanted it with, it's gonna be somebody unconventional. And it's definitely not gonna be Carey. I don't wanna pair too many people with him, at the risk of him seeming like a playboy, 'cuz he isn't. If you have an objection, then please voice it! I need to know. Yes, I need to know/ Tell me baby girl cuz I need to know….Ok, corny, but I couldn't resist that. * g * Till next time, then_. 


	7. Heist, Heist, Baby!!

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 7

*          *          *          *

_Author's Note:_

Yeah, ok, finally we get to the actually heist. Anybody notice that Carey has disappeared for the past two chapters? Truth be told, I don't really know where he disappeared to. I'll come up and tell y'all when I think of something. J I know, terrible me. But my muse has evaded me at this point in time. Maybe he'll come back to me soon, after he comes back from clubbing all night!! (Yeah, I envision my muse for this particular fic as a guy. Heck, my muse for my Psylocke fic is a guy, too. So much action and all that.) 

_And I'll do my best to incorporate the romances, too. But as of the moment, the only one working is Gabe/Addy, as Carey has disappeared off the face of the earth and the person that I wanna pair Raykel with isn't even introduced yet. And to erm, Duncan, is it (you never really signed with a nickname or anything) 'Stormy', Remy, and our two rascals will show up next time, along with our disappeared Carey and my muse!! Who still isn't back from partying yet!! _

*          *          *          *

Beverly Hills, California

*          *          *          *

Gabriel LaFacentia was lounging in the front lobby of the mansion that he now called headquarters. They were scheduled to leave for their heist any time now, but Eclipse was nowhere to be seen, and neither were the 3 other women- Adrienne, Raykel, and Fayre. Jay had disappeared as well, presumably to procure the crew a 'transitory vehicle', as Adrienne called it. 

Adrienne. Now she was _fine_. Not that the others weren't, though. Being the hot-blooded, heterosexual man that he was, he had to admit that Raykel was fly, and Fayre's exotic looks made her quite the attractive lady. Eclipse was… attractive in her own way as well, if one went for maroon skin and that _attitude_, but her personality more than neutralized any possible attraction that any man alive could have for her. In Gabe's opinion, at least. 

Amethyst, however, was a whole different ball game. He knew that she and Carey had been pretty serious for a while, but then, something had happened, and they had broken up. As far as he knew, Carey still had feelings for her, and well, he wasn't interested in going after somebody that his pal still had the hots for. Heck, he wasn't even comfortable with going out with somebody that his pal had dated seriously. Too much trouble, and way too much emotional baggage. He didn't know her all that well, but enough to know that there certainly wasn't any attraction between him and her. 

Then again, acknowledging that somebody was attractive and actually _being _attracted to her were 2 different things altogether. And while the others were good-looking, he couldn't help but constantly turn his attention back to Adrienne. Perhaps it was the fact that she had changed so much since the last time he had seen her. When was that, when she had just graduated from high school? Yeah, he thought so. Damn, but college had done wonders for her. 

Gabe frowned. Now, he was in a dilemma. What should he do? Normally, he wouldn't even have paused to think when it came to chasing down somebody he was attracted to.. But then again, he'd never been attracted to his best friend's sister, either. Ok, suppose I do go after Adrienne. Now how on earth am I supposed to keep this from Carey? And what if she rejects me? He'd never had any problems with rejection. After all, not only was Gabe French, he was extremely handsome as well. 

Just then, Fayre sliding into the seat opposite to his interrupted his thinking. "Are the others down yet?" she asked, looking around. 

"What do _you _think?" he asked, raising one eyebrow. 

"Adrienne said to be down at midnight, sharp."

"Glad to see that you remembered my instructions." Adrienne's voice floated down the stairs, and she appeared at the top of them seconds later. "Sorry, but I was a little held back by Jay's call. He's boosted the van, and he's on his way now. Where's Raykel?"

"Just done with my swim." The brunette walked into the foyer, and started up the stairs, a white terrycloth robe wrapped around her so that she wouldn't drip all over the place. "I'll be down in a few."

"And E-" Adrienne continued, but she never got to finish her question. 

"Right here." The shape shifter appeared from nowhere, and even though this tendency had startled many of them at first, most of the crew was already immune to her rather annoying habit of appearing out of thin air. 

"Great." Adrienne surveyed the crew, and noted with approval that all of them seemed refreshed and ready for the heist. Granted, this wasn't all that big of a heist, but this would give herself a chance to see if she could handle the group, and take a look at how well they worked with each other. Not to mention the fact that the floor plans were an essential part of her plan. How would she strategize and keep the rest of the crew up-to-date if she didn't have floor plans? 

Gabe watched all this like a hawk. Adrienne had a lot of potential when it came to being a criminal, actually. She had the inventiveness, the intelligence, and the street smarts for this. But what counterbalanced all her good points was the fact that she had absolutely no experience at all. Nada, zip. And this made him more than a little worried. This whole team was too newly acquainted, too unfamiliar with each other for Gabe to feel comfortable with them when it came to pulling off the heist. Throw in an inexperienced leader and it made him more than just a little jumpy. Sure, everybody here was a professional, and had more than enough experience points underneath their belts. Still, this was too hasty, too last minute, too fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants for his liking. He'd learned the hard way that one should always be as prepared as possible for anything that might go wrong on a heist, regardless of how big or small it was. 

Just then, a loud honk sounded from the other side of the mansion's doors, and Jay pulled up the driveway in a 'procured' vehicle. Fayre got up and hauled the massive oak doors open, to reveal Jay sitting in a large blue SUV outside. The window rolled down and he gestured for them to get in the car. "Come on! We ain't got all day! I wanna dump this thing as quickly as possible before the cops put a tab on this baby!" 

Gabe could see that both Fayre and Eclipse weren't very happy at the idea of the car booster shoving them around, but they got into the car anyway, knowing that to argue would just have been a waste of time. Gabe got up, and ambled over to where Adrienne was standing. "Aren't you going to get into the car, oh fearless leader?" He asked, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

Adrienne rolled her eyes in exasperation and shook her head. "Oh puh-lease. I'm waiting for our dear Miss Moon to grace us with her presence, that's what." She then looked at him. "I see that the uniform fits well, huh?" Unlike the others, most of whom were dressed in black from head to toe; Gabe was wearing a security guard's uniform. Later on, his partner Eclipse was to morph into a security guard as well. 

"It's a little small, but other than that, yeah, it's fine." The plan was to have the two of them get to the buildings when the first shift of guards were to finish their watch, knock out the replacement guards and take over the watch for them. It was no wonder then that Adrienne was nervous. If they were late, they would have had to resort to a plan not quite as easy, and much more unpleasant as well. 

"You think she's gonna come down soon?" asked Gabe, following Adrienne's line of sight up the stairs, and to the second floor. 

"She'd better. We can't afford to be late." The beginnings of a scowl were starting to appear on Adrienne's face, and Gabe quickly moved to calm her down.

"Why don't you call for her instead?" Before Adrienne could snap a reply at him, whether through sheer coincidence or perfect timing, Raykel waltzed down the stairs, dressed in form fitting black, long chestnut hair sleeked up into a bun tied at the nape of her hair. 

"I'm finished!" Spying the SUV and Jay waiting outside the door, she sprinted down the rest of the steps, calling out, "I get shotgun!" 

Before she could reach the car, however, Adrienne stopped her dead in her tracks. "I don't think so, Missy." Snorted Adrienne. "If you had been on time, you might've gotten a shot at sitting up front, but now count yourself lucky if you get to sit even remotely near the air conditioning. I'm sitting up front."

With that, she walked past a dumbfounded Raykel and slid into the seat beside Jay. The woman raised her eyebrow and looked at Gabe. "Who got on her case?" she asked.

"You did." Answered Gabe, shrugging nonchalantly. Gabe's answer was simple, and he brushed past her before getting into the car. Raykel paused, thinking for a bit, before shrugging and getting into the car as well. I suppose I do deserve it.

*          *          *          *

Downtown LA, ½ Hour Later

*          *          *          *

Jay pulled the car to a halt behind the building, and allowed the two security guards sitting inside to get out. Gabe was the first one off, followed by Eclipse, who had already morphed, and lastly, an invisible Fayre. Raykel noted that it was rather disconcerting, seeing the door slam shut by itself. Seconds after the first half of the team had alighted, Jay stopped the car again, this time, in the alley beside the building. He dropped Adrienne and Raykel off at the dumpster, and leaned out the driver side window. "I'm gonna be waiting for you in the parking lot across the street. Make it quick. This is gang turf. I wanna be in and out of here _fast_."

"You don't say." Snapped Adrienne. With that, Jay drove off, leaving both women in the alley. 

*          *          *

At the front of the building, Gabe and Eclipse walked side by side, keeping an eye out for any sign of the relief guards. Behind them, an invisible Fayre followed, the only thing betraying her presence being the footsteps left on the ground after she stepped in the puddles of water that lay on the floor. "Do you see them?" muttered Eclipse, looking around. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Gabe saw two security guards walking up the sidewalk towards the building. "Yeah." For Fayre's benefit, he pointed in their direction, and elaborated on their appearance. "Dressed like us, both heavyset guys, mid-40's, talking about doughnuts." 

"Got it." Fayre's whisper was ghostly, and barely audible, as she slipped past Gabe and Eclipse. In answer, both of them melted back into the alley in order to ensure that the guards didn't see them. As they drew closer, Gabe could hear the guys chatting with each other. 

"-these doughnuts gave me indigestion the last time we bought 'em!" Gabe heard one of the guards complaining. His companion was about to reply, when he heard a pair of loud smacking sounds as Fayre knocked the two guards down. This was followed by the thud of flesh on concrete as the two of them fell to the ground, presumably unconscious. Both he and Eclipse took this as their cue to step out of the alley, and the two of them quickly tugged the two unconscious men back into the alley. 

After this was done, the trio walked towards the building at a brisk walk. Adrienne and Raykel were waiting at the side of the alley, and if they stayed there too long, it would be too suspicious. Opening the doors, they stepped into the lobby, with Gabe holding the door open for a fraction of a second longer than he needed to, just to make sure that Eclipse would be able to get in. The two guards on duty then greeted them. "Finally! We've been waiting for ages."

"Relax." Grumbled Eclipse. "We're only 5 minutes late. Traffic was bad."

"Whatever. What happened to Jim and Johnson?" The other guard asked

"Sick." Said Gabe, putting just a bit of persuasion behind his words.

"Huh." The guy whom Gabe had replied to grunted. He turned to his partner. "Let's get outta here." He grabbed the sign-in board and tossed it to the two of them. "Have fun, you two." He then signed the keys over to them. The three mutants waited for what seemed like eons for the three guards to leave the building. When they finally disappeared out of sight, all three of them sprang into action. The keys were picked up by Fayre's invisible hands, and quickly headed down the hallway towards the alley where Adrienne and Raykel were both waiting. 

Gabe looked over at Eclipse in faint surprise. "Well, that wasn't hard." 

The shape shifter sat down, and frowned, contemplative. "No, it wasn't hard at all. In fact, it was too easy." 

You better not jinx us. Gabe thought to himself. But deep down inside, he had a sinking feeling that Eclipse was right. It had been too easy.

*          *          *          *

Fayre was running down the hallway, moving as quickly as possible. She was nearly at the door, when she stumbled, and dropped the keys, which slid into a nearby corner. Growling in annoyance, she stalked over to them, bending down to pick the keys up. Then, her eyes fixed upon a fearsome creature nestling in the corner, just mere inches away from the keys, and she froze. Oh, hell. She stared at the deadly little creature sitting there in the corner, squatting on it's 8 legs. No way am I gonna let _that_ touch me. The little spider turned around to face her, it's eight, beady little eyes staring straight at her. What am I gonna do?!

*          *          *          *

Meanwhile, Raykel and Adrienne waited outside, and Adrienne was getting more than a little bit impatient. "What is taking them so long?!" 

Raykel, who was relaxing back against the far wall of the alley, was scrutinizing her nails as best as she could underneath the light that filtered in from the street. "Relax. If you're this stressed during such a small heist, you're gonna have a nervous breakdown when it comes to the actual thing." 

Adrienne glared at Raykel. "Oh, shut up." The both of them then fell back into silence as they waited for Fayre to open the doors for them. 

*          *          *          *          

Ok, take it easy, girl. That thing's not gonna bite you. You can take down full-grown men twice your size, a little spider's nothing to you. She squeezed her eyes shut and reached out a hand, slowly. She paused for another moment, and then finally snatched they keys off the floor. Phew! See, I knew you could do it! Then, she felt a strange tickling sensation on her bare arm. Looking to the source of the irritation, she found- "EWW!! SPIDER!!!! Argh! Get it OFF me!!" Fayre starting jumping wildly up and down, shaking her hands with as much strength as she could, shrieking loudly enough to wake up the dead. Unfortunately, Fayre's attention was so focused on the spider and getting if off her that she forgot one very important fact. 

"Oh no." Fayre realized that she wasn't invisible any more. 

*          *          *          *

Inside the booth where one old, tired security guard watched the television screens that were linked to cameras all over the building, he saw an impossible sight on one of the flickering gray and white television screens. Blinking, he rubbed his eyes, once, twice, as he stared, unbelieving, at the girl who had appeared in the corridor of the first floor, out of seemingly thin air. "What the…" the whisper died on his lips as he remembered his duties, and reached out for the walkie talkie that sat on the panel a few inches away. "There's an intruder, boys! In the east hallway!! Some woman who…" he paused, wondering if saying that she had 'appeared out of thin air' would discredit him with these young 'uns. 

Both Gabe and Eclipse started in surprise as the walkie-talkie sitting on the desk crackled to life. "-here's an intruder, boys! In the east hallway!! Some woman who…" The two mutants exchanged glances, and Gabe immediately reached for the walkie-talkie, questioning the old man.

"Who what?" His voice was hard, and urgent. It was possible that Fayre slipped up, somehow. If she had, they were in trouble.

The old man wondered if he should tell them. Then, he decided not to, and hollered back over the line. "Never mind! Go and check it out." 

Gabe looked over at Eclipse, and he tossed the walkie-talkie to her. "You heard him. I'll go up and take care of the old man. When you hear me give you the signal, open the door and let Adrienne and Raykel in. We don't have much time. There's no telling who else he alerted." They then both headed separate ways, getting ready to do their best to salvage this heist.

*          *          *          *

Outside, Adrienne's ears perked up, as she heard something. "You hear that?" Looking over at Raykel, she noticed that her partner had ceased to worry about her nails, returning Adrienne's gaze with concern in her eyes. 

"Yeah. It sounded like a scream." 

"That's not good." Those three words were like a stab in their hearts, as fear started to creep in. 

*          *          *          *

Gabe rushed up the stairs, trying to remember where exactly the control booth was located. He nearly barreled past it before realizing that he had reached his destination. Flinging open the door, he stepped inside, menacing. The old security guard looked up at the intruder, surprised, and just a little bit afraid. "Who're you? Where's Jim? And why're you here?"

Gabe took another step towards the old man. Ushering as much strength as he could, he put the full force of that behind his words, looking the elderly security guard straight in the eye as he talked to him. "You will not remember any of this. You will forget about seeing that woman in the hallway, and you will think that I am Jim. You will got to sleep now, and you will attribute that to a lack of coffee. Do you understand?"

"I…under…stand…" The security guard's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and took on a glazed look. He then slumped forward onto the table, the soft sound of snoring indicating that this man was sound asleep. At this, Gabe lunged down to grab the walkie-talkie sitting on the table beside the now asleep security guard. 

"Eclipse, he's asleep. Open the door and get Adrienne and Raykel in. Find Fayre. I'll erase the tapes of tonight." 

"Got it." 

*          *          *          *

Fayre, no longer invisible, was running down the hallway, towards the door that she was supposed to open, when she was knocked to the opposite side of the corridor by a powerful body check given to her courtesy of Eclipse in her security guard disguise.  "Fool. You ruined the heist." The voice that hissed out was definitely Eclipse's, there was no mistake about that.

"I'm. sorry." Growled Fayre. With that, she shoved the shape shifter off herself, and used the keys to open the door out to the alley. Standing there were a very disturbed looking Adrienne and Raykel. Unease was written all over their faces, and worry lines creased their brows. 

"Is everything alright? We heard a scream." asked Adrienne, and she and Raykel quickly stepped into the building. 

"It is, now. No thanks to Miss Screw-Up over here, who's screaming you had the pleasure of hearing." Eclipse punctuated her reply with another _look_ at Fayre, who returned the stare with an equal amount of hostility.

"In case you didn't wonder, now is definitely _not _the time to argue." Raykel was snappy, and it was easy to see that this had affected the normally easy-going security expert as well. With that, both Raykel and Adrienne brushed past them, heading straight for the stairs. 

"Watch the entrances, and notify Jay that we'll be done in about 5 to 10 minutes. And _don't_ screw up this, time." Adrienne looked at Fayre, and rolled her eyes. "_Both of you." She emphasized, this time looking at Eclipse. She then turned around, and ran up the stairs after Raykel._

Eclipse and Fayre pause, and looked at each other, unsure of what to do now. "I'll contact  Gabe." Muttered Eclipse, and raised the walkie-talkie to her lips. "How is everything up there? Over. "

A crackle of static followed her question, and then Gabe's reply came back. "Pappy here's out like a light. Are Adrienne and Raykel in yet?" 

"Yeah." Eclipse started walking back towards the front of the building, where the security guards were supposed to be stationed. "Any luck erasing the film?" 

"On it right now." Gabe was pressing eject on all the video recording buttons, and the CD- burners all ejected the discs that they had been writing to. Grabbing each of them, he held it ceremoniously between his fingers, and then in one swift move, snapped them into pieces. "It's not the smoothest job, but it'll do. Should I get down there?" 

"Yeah. Adrienne says that they'll be done in 10 minutes, tops. And Fayre's gonna get Jay."

"Why me?!" protested Fayre. "Who said that you could order me around, anyways?" She was about to continue, when she realized just how whiny and childish she sounded. Ignoring the smirk on Eclipse's lips, she rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Oh, alright. I'll go. And I'll take this, thank you very much." Plucking the walkie-talkie from Eclipse's hands, she turned around and walked away from the shape shifter. 

"What the…" She stalked over to Fayre, and put her hand on Fayre's shoulder, spinning her around with quite a modicum of force. "Who the hell do you think you are!! Nobody takes anything from me like that. Nobody!!" 

It was now Fayre's turn to snort and look condescendingly down at Eclipse. "Oh please. It's nothing as petty as that. I need this so that you can tell us when we should drive up to the building. You really didn't expect us to wait at the driveway, did you?" She turned back around again, and waltzed off. Ah, sometimes work was the best thing there was. Pressing the talk button on her walkie-talkie, she informed Gabe about the change in ownership of the walkie-talkie, and headed outside to join Jay in the SUV.

*          *          *          *

Upstairs, Adrienne and Raykel were peering at the plans that they had dug up from one of the folders. "Is this it?" whispered Adrienne. Raykel took a look over her shoulder. 

"One of them, yeah. We need a few more plans. Head over to the Xerox machines and make the copy first, ok?" 

"Yeah, sure." Adrienne was already at the machine, and it soon whirred into life, humming as it made copies of all the plans that Raykel was passing to Adrienne. Once this had been done, they put the plans back, neatly where they had found them, and left the room. "Come on, let's get out of here." Said Adrienne.

Gabe watched the two women exit the room, and grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Adrienne and Raykel are heading on down, repeat, they are heading on down to the pick-up point." He then waited for the women to pass out of the line of sight of the last security camera, and pressed the eject button for that CD-burner. Destroying that disk as well, he stuck new CDs into all the burners, and exited the room, heading downstairs to regroup with the rest of the crew.

*          *          *          *

In the alley opposite the building, Jay was sitting in the escape vehicle, watching television on the LCD screen that came with the SUV. On his dashboard sat a modified piece of equipment that he had jacked from an older car that he had boosted once- a radio transmitter tuned to police frequencies. He had a feeling that this would come in handy, and he was right. There had been occasions that the cops had come near them, but never close enough to warrant an abort for the heist.

His hand was pressed absently on the button that changed the channel, and his fingers were currently very busy. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Boring- who cares about wedding rings? Nope, nope, nope… Yowza!! The Playboy channel!! He was about to settle down for a long time when suddenly, out of nowhere, he jumped in fright when he heard someone rapping on the windshield of the car. "What the hell?!" He looked up in fright, only to see Fayre standing there. He quickly unlocked the car door, and she climbed into the seat next to him. "What the hell was _that for? I was very busy mind you!"_

Fayre took a glace at the LCD screen, and raised her eyebrows. "I'll say. But you can watch that some other time. Right now, we have to go pick the rest of them up. Adrienne and Raykel are almost done with their stuff."

"Oh, alright." Jay reluctantly turned the LCD screen off, and started up the engine of the car.

*          *          *          *

Eclipse was waiting impatiently at the lobby, tapping her foot. When Gabe finally arrived, she frowned, glaring at her partner. "It's about time. Have you alerted the rest of them?" 

"Yeah, Jay and Fayre are on their way. Where are Adrienne and Raykel?"

"Here." The two women opened the door leading to the fire escape staircase, and appeared in the lobby as well. Both of them had large pieces of paper in hand, and both seemed more than ready to get out of here, which exactly echoed Gabe's sentiment. "What about Jay and Fayre?"

"In the car. They should be arriving at any moment." Sighed Eclipse. The other three were not the only ones who were happy to get out of this place- this whole heist had been bothersome, ill-run, and tiring. After some time, a few minutes which had seemed to drag on for all eternity, Jay and Fayre finally drove up, and the four mutants surged towards the car, glad to finally get out of the building. 

They all piled into the SUV, and Jay, looking annoyingly cheery, adjusted the rear-view mirror so that he could get a better look at his teammates. "So, how did it go?" All he got in response was a loud groan and a lifetime's worth of deathly looks in his direction.

"Yeah, I had a good time, too." At this, Raykel leaned forward and punched him on the shoulder.

*          *          *          *

_Author's Note:_

PHEW!! Ok, that's done. Finally. I contemplated giving them some more complications during the heist, but then I decided against it. I'm tired, and I've got class soon. So there. :-P


	8. Explosive Encounters (Or Not Quite)

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 8

*          *          *          *

_Author's Note:_

_Hey, y'all! Look who I found! *Drags muse onto stage* Muse looks up and grins. "Hey, *hic* y'all! How'sh it *hic* going?"  _

_And you know who I found with him? *Stomps off stage, hauls Carey out, and dumps him on the floor- he's too drunk to do anything else* Yes, our resident scoundrel, MIA. Turns out my dear muse dragged him off to go partying with him- without me!! I found them in some club, grinding away at these two… never mind. But both of them are back, so we can finally start the story going again! _

_"That'sh right!" Muse nods emphatically. "And you all should *hic* pay attenshion, cuz, shee, my good pal Carey here ish gonna mphmph!" I've covered his mouth. Don't say anything about the story!! Not another peep from you, understand? Muse nods drunkenly. Good boy._

_Ok, disclaimers time. Marvel characters belong to Marvel, all the other characters belong you whoever they belong to, and the new character that makes his appearance here belongs to Bazzer. Care and Addy belong to me, and I'm not making any money off this, so just leavemealone, you bloodsucker lawyers!!_

_"That'sh right!!" Hollers Muse. "Ya know shomething, VF? I think that the crew should have a *hic* groupie!!" _

_WHAT?!!! _

_"Yup! And X-Men should be called the Sex-Men now!" (Guess where he got that from? __J__ )_

_*I turn REALLY red in the face* Don't pay any attention to him, he's drunk. Terribly. And kids, if you don't know what's a groupie, good for you. Don't ask about it, and please don't say you heard it from me!! And since Carey's out like a light for the time being, he'll only have a speaking role- no appearances for the time being.  _

_And you!! *Turns to muse* Have you been reading smut fics again?! Or hentai?! Shame on you!! *Drags both muse and Carey off stage*_

*          *          *          *

Detroit, Michigan

*          *          *          *

Adrienne alighted from the bus and heaved a sigh. She was _exhausted_. Sleeping on a plane was not exactly the most comfortable thing to do, and since the crew had gotten back at 3 in the morning, she'd been lecturing the whole group about the disaster that had taken place. After collapsing on the bed for only an hour, Amethyst had come in, announcing that she had gotten a plane ticket for Adrienne to Detroit, Michigan, and that the plane was scheduled to take off in 2 hours. So Adrienne had to pack, get to the airport to catch her plane, and fly to Detroit in less than an hour. She'd only had a bagel and some coffee to tide her over the plane flight- a crying baby and incredibly strong body odor emanating from the person the next seat over had kept her from getting any sleep at all.

And now, Adrienne was grumpy, tired, and greatly deprived of caffeine- something which she greatly needed at this point in time. And since she hadn't had time to take a shower, she lacked the clean, refreshed feeling that morning showers always offered her as well, and this served to make her even grumpier. Right now, labeling her as a "Menace to Humankind" was more appropriate than calling her "Adrienne, Mutant Thief Extraordinaire". Dressed in a huge, baggy sweater that swamped her frame and her dorkiest pair of glasses, she was obviously _not _ready for public exposure. Not that she really cared. 

She dragged her rear into the seat of a chair, ordered coffee and groaned as she rested her head on her arms. When it finally arrived, she chugged it down, not bothering with the fact that it was scalding hot. She was going to regret that. Her eyes widened in shock, and she got up and sprinted for the water cooler, gulping down as much of the cold water as was humanly possible. Ow, ow, OW!! She looked up, and saw the all the people in the café staring at her like she'd sprouted a third nostril. "Heh." She laughed feebly. "Hot." She slouched back to her seat and slid down as far as possible, hoping and wishing that she could disappear. 

Just then, mercifully, her cell phone rang, and she picked it up, grateful for the momentary distraction. "Adrienne here."

"Hey." The groan on the other end was a very obvious indicator of just how lousy her brother felt.

"Hey, Care.You sound _really_ good." Her snort was clearly audible.

"And so do you." Carey would have smiled if he could have, but unfortunately, his head just hurt too much from his hangover for him to do so. "So, Amy tells me that you went ahead and got the floor plans last night."

"Yeah. And the good news is that we actually managed to get those floor plans." Adrienne hesitantly took another sip of her coffee, and winced as the liquid stung her still sensitive tongue.

"And the bad news?" 

"Let's just say that the crew that you chose and assembled don't really work all that well together. Fayre and Eclipse are at each other's throats after what happened yesterday, and Raykel is busy flirting with every male in sight. Amethyst has retreated to her office, barring herself off from all these conflicts, and I have to come all the way to Detroit, Michigan, where it's still 30 degrees out to find some guy named Travis Stone for you. And right now, I really have absolutely no clue as to how to do that."

"That's why I'm calling you. Believe me, if it wasn't of the utmost importance, I wouldn't be doing this right now, regardless of the fact that you're my little sister. We're running out of time, and the sooner we get the crew together, the better. Besides, the hangover that I'm experiencing right now is unholy, I tell you. Oh yeah, and one last thing. I happen to know for a fact that Raykel only flirts with the good-looking guys." Carey cleared his throat, and the hint that he was dropping was obvious.

"Oh, come on. Just because I'm tired doesn't mean I'll actually fall prey to your hinting that you're attractive. Besides, what do you wanna do _that_ for? I'm your sister!"

"I'm doing this so that for once, you'll finally admit who's the more attractive one amongst the two of us." Carey grinned at his remark.

"Oh, alright. I'll admit that I'm far better looking than you'll ever be, _Da Ge_." 

Adrienne could feel the heat of Carey's glare over all the distance separating the two of them. "You know that wasn't what I meant."

"Yeah, well, I've never hesitated to put you in your place, Care." The satisfaction of making her elder brother all upset and flustered was almost good enough to wash away all the fatigue and pain that Adrienne had gone through the past few hours.

"Can we get this conversation back on track? I'm a busy man, you know." Carey moved quickly to cover his embarrassment that resulted from Adrienne's insult. 

"You and me both, pal." Adrienne tore open a packet of sugar and dumped it into her cup of coffee. To hell with eating healthy- she needed the sugar. "So, how do I find this Stone guy?"

"He works at this jazz club slash restaurant place in downtown Detroit. He's gone straight for awhile, but I'm sure you won't have any problems convincing him."

"So when should I go down and find him?"

"Sometime tonight. He works at the bar- finding him won't be difficult. He's always at the center of attention."

"Perfect. This means that I can finally get some sleep, lest this ill-fated maiden goeth on a murderous rampage that will 'nere destroy half the city." 

Carey rolled his eyes. "Then I plead to any and all deities that may be in our midst, spare us all from the horror that is my younger sister without sleep."

Adrienne laughed at his reaction. "Send me the address, and I'll head on down tonight. Goodness knows that I would love this down and get out of here ASAP."

Once Carey had hung up, and Adrienne had received the location of the restaurant, she quickly got set to dialing them, and arranging a meeting with Travis Stone.

*          *          *          *

Later That Night, After Sleep, a Bath, and a Change of Clothes

*          *          *          *          

Adrienne stretched, catlike, as she stepped out from the shower. Oh, that felt so much better. She sat down at the vanity mirror, and started to do her hair and makeup. She had arranged to meet this Travis Stone guy at a jazz club downtown, and she intended to look good- she felt that she deserved a night off. Normally, business and pleasure didn't mix, but in this case, she really didn't care.

After a taxi ride, Adrienne alighted, and peered up at the sign over the door. Yep, this was the place. She walked in the door and the person at the front (she didn't think that calling him a maitre'd was appropriate for the occasion) showed her to a table tucked at the corner of the room. He gave her a menu and left her to her own decisions. The man on the stage stood playing his saxophone, the warm, golden notes of music floating through the air. Adrienne couldn't help but be appreciative. This was the first time that she'd really enjoyed herself since the mission started. She was sure that she'd logged more frequent flier miles in the fast week or so than she'd had in the rest of her life. It was good to take things slow for a while, sit back and enjoy the moment before she was swept up into the maelstrom of the heist again.

A waitress dressed all in black came up to the table. "Hi, I'm Mary Ann! Would you like to make your order, Miss?"

Adrienne looked up at the woman and smiled. "I'd love to. What do you recommend?"

"Well, the cheese steak fajitas are very good. A personal favorite of mine." 

"I'll take that one, then. And I'll have a diet coke with that, too."

"Sure thing. Is that all?" The waitress scribbled down Adrienne's order on a notepad, and collected the menu from her.

"Yup."

"So, you're here alone tonight? No dates or anything?" 

"Yeah. Just thought that a night out alone would do me some good."

Mary Ann was about to open her mouth and say something else, but then, she stopped and put on a falsely bright smile on her face. This did nothing to dull the sadness in her eyes, though- something that Adrienne didn't miss. "Will that be all, Miss?"

"Yeah, that'll be all. Thank you." Adrienne watched the waitress walk away, wondering if something was wrong. It's none of your business. 

Mary Ann turned away and headed for the kitchen. Adrienne slumped against the seat, and closed her eyes, suddenly tired again. It's never simple, is it? Just come here, have a good dinner, and chat up the bartender, and instead I now have to wrestle with how to go about trying to help that poor woman. She then shook her head. Forget about it- there's nothing I can do. She scanned the room, trying to find the reason she even came here in the first place. 

Carey had said to look for a kid with red hair, who dressed in black. That wasn't very useful, but the fact that he worked at the bar was of some help. After a now quiet Mary Ann had served dinner, Adrienne had finished it off, and headed over to the bar, so that she might get to talk to this Stone guy and get closer to the stage. 

The bar was huge, long, and low, the top made of solid oak, stained black, with a sheet of plate glass placed on top to protect the wood. A few other people were sitting at the bar, chatting with each other or just listening to the music. Adrienne slid into an unoccupied seat far enough away from the other people, and was soon tended to by the young man there. While cleaning his glass, he leaned forward, and winked at Adrienne. "So, what'll it be?" 

Adrienne grinned back at the man, his good mood infectious, and his charm uplifting. "How about a Cosmopolitan?" 

"Ah, always a lady's drink. Coming right up." He put the glass away, and busied himself with mixing up Adrienne's drink. "So, are you new in town?" 

Adrienne raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Is it that obvious?" 

"Not to the untrained eye. But only big city girls from either the East Coast or the West Coast buy drinks like the Cosmopolitan. Midwestern ladies don't go for such drinks. So looking at you, I'd guess Frisco, LA, or New York. Well?" He placed the finished drink in front of Adrienne.

She shook her head, and laughed. "You're good. Yeah, it's Frisco. I'm Adrienne, by the way. You can call me Addy, though."

"Travis. Nice to meet you." He was about to say some more, but then was interrupted by somebody at the other end of the bar.

"Hey, Bartender!! Get me a beer!" 

"Ok!" Travis hollered back at the customer. "Be back in a flash." He winked at Adrienne, and went to give the other man his beer. Once he had drawn the brew for the man, he grabbed the towel, and another set of shot glasses, and proceeded to polish them. "So, Addy, what brings a sophisticated lady like you out to Detroit?"

She took a sip of her cocktail and looked him straight in the eye. "To be honest, it's you."

Her reply threw him off, and he looked very confused. "Me?"

"Yes, you. I was informed by my brother that your services could be of use to me."

Travis started to get suspicious, and he withdrew into himself, his manner becoming brisk and curt, instead of the warm friendliness that he had been exuding earlier. "Yeah, well, whoever this brother of yours was, he's mistaken. I've gone straight now. No more of that stuff." 

Adrienne watched Travis, scrutinizing his actions, and thinking of a way to get around his inhibitions. She decided that he was the determined sort- wheedling and cajoling wouldn't work. So she went for the arm-twisting tactic. "I'm sure that the owners of this establishment would be very intrigued by the fact that you're here mixing drinks for customers when you're not even of legal age to drink the stuff that you're working with, wouldn't you say so?" 

The young man froze, and he looked Adrienne square in the eye, anger and fear blazing in his gaze. "You wouldn't."

"All I'm asking for is that you listen to me and let me make my proposition. You don't even have to agree. Just listen. Please?" 

He put the shot glasses away, not saying anything. The warm tunes of the saxophone filled the silence between them, but nothing could remove the tension hanging heavily between the two. "I get off work in a couple of hours. Think you could wait until then?" 

"I have all the time in the world." With that, Travis turned away from Adrienne, and proceeded to continue working, ignoring Adrienne. She heaved a sigh mentally and shrugged. Carey is gonna pay for saying that convincing him was easy.

*          *          *          *

2 Hours Later

*          *          *          *

Adrienne and Travis were walking along the street, hands buried deep into their pockets, coat collars turned up, chins pulled close to their chests. It was still chilly and brisk in Detroit at this time of the year, and Adrienne was reminded of how fortunate she was that she lived in California. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Despite the polite words, Travis' tone was icy. 

"A heist." She saw him about to protest, but shook her head. "Please, just listen to me. It's a big one. I've estimated takes at between at least 40 to 100 million in total. And that's if we don't pull the heist of properly. If we do, the total amount of money could double. We need a demolitions expert, and my brother tells me you're the best."

"Who the hell is your brother, anyways?" Travis growled, irritated at the countless mentions of him. 

"Carey Li. I'm sure you've heard of him." 

Travis stopped dead in his tracks. "Carey Li's your brother?" 

"Yeah." Adrienne stopped moving as well, not wanting to walk ahead of the other mutant. 

"Are you… y'know, a…" Travis fidgeted, fumbling with his coat buttons, unsure of how to ask Adrienne his next question.

"A mutant?" Adrienne finished his sentence for him. "Yeah, I am. So are all the other people that have joined our crew. And so are all the people that we haven't asked yet. And while this isn't exactly very important, you might like to know that the person who we're gonna steal from is an active anti-mutant activist. Not important, but I just thought that you'd like to know." 

Travis listened to all that Adrienne said. "Are you finished?" 

"Yeah, pretty much." Adrienne shrugged, trying to read Travis' expression. 

"Great. Then if you'll excuse me, I have to go home. I've got to wake up early tomorrow, because I've got another job. Good night."

"Wait!" Adrienne caught hold of Travis' shoulder, before he walked away. She pushed an envelope into his hands. "A phone number to call, and a plane ticket, if you're interested." 

Travis looked down at the envelope, and opened his mouth, about to retort that he didn't need this, because he wasn't going to be on this 'crew' of hers. When he looked up, he discovered that Adrienne had disappeared. "Ah, hell." He growled, before turning around and walking away.

*          *          *          *

_Author's Note:_

_Ok, now that those two are sleeping soundly, I'll be serious and get down to business. Bazzer, as you would've noticed, your character has appeared here. Now, I've got some questions. I don't know why I didn't aks you about that last time- I just didn't notice it. Shows just how observant I really am, huh? Ok, here they are._

_1) __I just realized that Travis has orange eyes. Don't you think that's a little strange? I realize that they're supposed to be part of his mutation, but still… I think you see what I'm getting at. Would you mind if I change it to another color, say, blue? Or if you want to keep the orange eye color, then could I get him to wear colored contacts or something? I think that orange eyes are just a little too exotic. _

_2) __Travis' history doesn't include how he got into criminal activities. Since Carey wouldn't be able to know about him otherwise, is it ok if I just add some stuff on? Also, since he's a demolitions expert, I wanna be able to flesh that out by making him an expert on bombs, explosives, etc- not just being able to pull dynamite sticks out of thin air. Is that all right with you?_

_3) __And that brings me to my next question. I feel that being able to pull dynamite sticks out of thin air is a rather strange mutant ability. Do you want to change it to something else? You can do something along the same line, like being able to make stuff explode (sorta like Gambit's, now that I think about it), just something a bit more possible than pulling dynamite sticks out of thin air. I dunno. It's your call. _

_And to the rest of you guys, I've got some questions too. *Hears a chorus of groans* Now, don't complain. Just stick some answers into your reviews and indulge me. Doing so will mean that I can come up with a better story for all of you guys._

_1) __Are the chapters too long? Too short? Just right? Tell me about your feelings._

_2) __Do you guys feel that I'm being too irrelevant? _

_3) __Lastly- am I portraying your characters properly? _

_There, you see? That didn't hurt at all. Now review! Or else. _


	9. Stowaways!!

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 9

*          *          *          *

Author's Note: 

This particular chapter takes place at the same time as the previous one. Meaning that while Adrienne's looking for Travis, this fic's taking place, and the next one, who will involve our MIA dearest Carey and the intro of another character, will all be taking place at the same time. So that covers our time gap, and the funny blank where Carey went missing for awhile.

Lastly, I do not own X-Men Evo, but I do own this story, Care and Addy, and the other characters belong to all the other people who own them. (I haven't been consistent with disclaimers, so I gotta be careful.) Here we go!!! 

*          *          *          *

Xavier Institute For Gifted Students, Bayville, New York

*          *          *          *

Evan Daniels was in his room at the Xavier Institute, frantically trying to pack for his impromptu vacation with his travel partner Nightcrawler constantly urging him to always be faster. "Come _on_, Evan! Ve don't have much more time! Storm vill be leaving in a few minutes! She said zat she vould leave at 12pm for ze airport!! Ve have to be hidden in the car vith her before she gets into it!!" 

Meanwhile, Evan continued running around like a chicken with his head cut off, panicky and confused. "I'm moving!! How do you expect me to pack with you always telling me to be faster, anyways?!" He ran to his drawer, and yanked out a handful of clean boxers, dumping them into the bag sitting on his bed, along with his alarm clock, some more clean clothes, and his helmet and pads. His skateboard was sitting on the other end of his bed, the only thing untouched in the boy's frantic packing. "Ok, what else do I need? I've got clean underwear, fresh clothes, my skating stuff…" He checked off his fingers, wondering if he missed anything. "I think that's all."

"Shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, money, food?! Vhat about those?" Kurt raised his voice, even more upset that his friend still had so many items to pack.

"Don't you have all those stuff? We can share! 'Cept for the socks, of course." He pointed at the German teenager's bag accusingly. 

"Evan, I shower 3 times a day, I only have $50 vith me, and I eat enough food for ze 2 of us!!"  Kurt returned Evan's glare with equal fierceness.

"Fine!! I'll go get the other stuff. Keep a lookout for Auntie O." He then hurried around the room some more, before heading to the restroom to get his toiletries. At the same time, Kurt opened the window in Evan's room as wide as it could, and poked his head out as far as it was humanly possible. He saw the car still in the garage. That was a good sign. He heard the door opening again, and saw Evan coming back into the room with his toiletries in hand. 

"She still hasn't left yet." Reported Kurt, pulling his body back in through the window. Evan nodded in response, dumping his armload of stuff into the bag, and he then proceeded to head over to his 'safe box'. Opening it using a small key he had stashed somewhere, Evan took out some cash and stuffed that into his pocket, before turning around to face Kurt. 

"I've got a hundred bucks. Think that'll be ok?" 

Kurt shrugged in response. "Should be. Ve'll either be back by the time zat runs out, or Storm vould have discovered us by zen." He loped over to Evan, who was shouldering his bag and holding his skateboard with one hand. "Ready?" 

Evan snorted. "About as ready as I could be for something as crazy as this." But deep inside, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement. This was almost like a road trip, but better!  

Kurt placed his hand on Evan's shoulder, and together, they teleported out of Evan's room and into the garage. Once they were there, they opened the trunk of Storm's Mercedes and piled into it (A/N: Truth be told, I don't know what car Storm drives. I originally put in a Cadillac, but that seems like an old man's car to me. Ororo is a sophisticated lady, one whom I envisioned driving either a Mercedes or a Jaguar. And a Mercedes it was, since it's obviously cheaper than a Jaguar.) "Dude, what if Auntie O decides to put her luggage in here?" whispered Evan, as he was closing the lid behind them.

"Zen ve're busted." Even in the pitch darkness of the trunk, Evan thought that he could see Kurt's white smile flashing in the darkness. "But zat's not gonna happen."

"Why?" Evan wiggled around until he found himself in a slightly more comfortable position, away from Kurt's elbows, knees, and tail. He sounds a little _too_ confident to me.

"Because I asked if Storm vould like me to put her bags into the car for her. She vas very pleased. I zen proceeded to put them in the back seat of ze car. She von't be looking here anytime soon." 

Evan turned around as best as he could and stared at the space that he presumed was Nightcrawler. "How long _have_ you been planning this anyway? You have everything laid out, from where her luggage is to-"

"To how ve're going to get on ze plane. I know ze flight number and the company that she is flying vith. Ve vill sneak onto ze cargo hold, vhere they hold all ze luggage." 

"And then?"

The answer that came out was certainly not what Evan expected. "_Mein gott_! Who do you think I am, Scott? I've only planned it zat far!! Besides, it's time zat you pull your own weight. Ve've got a lot of time until ve land in New Orleans. You'll have plenty of time to think of our plan."

Evan sighed. "Oh, alright." He was about to settle down for the ride as best as he could in the cramped, stuffy darkness that was the closed car trunk of Auntie O's car, when suddenly, he was reminded of something. "Hey, did you leave the note for them in your room?" 

"_Nein_. I decided zat ve should call them once ve reach New Orleans. Zat way they von't be able to stop us. I told them zat I'd be going to ze mall vith you, don't vorry. They von't be expecting us to be back until later zis evening. By ze time they realize zat ve are gone, it vill be too late."

Evan frowned. "But what if nobody actually sees us leave?" 

Kurt's answer was interrupted by the sound of a car door opening, then slamming shut, and the warm rumble of power that came from the car's engine as Ororo started the car. "Ve're going!" 

"Yeah!" All his worries and concerns started to melt away as he thought of all the things that he and Kurt could do once they were in New Orleans. Eat Cajun food, hang out, chat up some girls, not have to go to school… "I can't wait!"

But wait Evan did. And wait, and wait, and wait. They waited through the entire car ride, waited until they reached the airport, waited until they could teleport into the cargo hold, waited throughout the entire plane flight, and waited until finally at last they were in New Orleans. By this time, both Kurt and Evan were bored, irritated, and had had more than enough of waiting. And two bored mutant teenagers who were tired of waiting were bound to make some mistakes. "Yes!! Free at last!!" Evan pumped his fist in the air in triumph, happy that they were now free of the necessity of waiting. 

"_Mein gott! _If I had to vait one more second, I swear, I vould've gone nuts!!" The two of them had teleported into the main cabins of the plane, and walked out smiling with the rest of the passengers, even shaking hands with the air stewardesses on their way out. Kurt was about to say more, when suddenly, he was interrupted by the one person they didn't want to be seen by. 

"Kurt Wagner, Evan Daniels, what on earth are you doing here?!" The loud and rather cross voice of Ororo Munroe sounded from behind them, and they turned around to see the Windrider looking crossly at them both, hands on her hips, the corners of her lips tugged down into a frown. The two fugitives looked at each other in panic. 

"Run!!" The two of them broke into a sprint, weaving through the crowd of people. Looking back, Evan could see his Auntie running after them, looking extremely cross. "Dude, this isn't good!" 

Looking out one of the huge glass panels that spanned the walls, Kurt echoed Evan's sentiment. "I'll say." Outside, in the open air, the sky was starting to turn very dark, and lightning was starting to flash across the sky. 

They rounded a corner, skidding on the smooth tile floors, trying their best to lose Ororo. "Oh man. Auntie O must be friggin' mad to have the sky turn _that_ dark." In their panic, neither of them noticed that Storm was no longer on their trail. 

"Zere!!" Kurt pointed one three-fingered hand at the exit of the airport terminal. "Ve'll be able to lose her outside." They put on a final burst of speed, racing to what they thought was their freedom. Once they were outside, they slowed down to a walk, and leaned back on a wall. Putting their hands on their knees and bending down, they paused for a moment to catch their breath. "Zat vas close." 

"I'll say." Came a voice. "You almost lost me." At this, both Evan and Kurt froze, eyes wide. 

"Zat vasn't you, vas it, Evan." 

"Er… no, it wasn't." Evan took a deep breath, and turned around, hoping and wishing that his Auntie O wasn't behind him. Apparently, this wasn't his day. Evan found himself staring up at his beloved aunt, and he did his best to muster up a weak grin. "Hey there, Auntie O." He waved his fingers at her, doing his best to seem like nothing was going on. "What a surprise to see you here. I didn't know that you were coming to New Orleans." 

At this lie, a crack of thunder sounded in the distance, loud and sharp. "Ok, I'll try something else." 

Ororo frowned down at the two young men. "You know, if you wanted to run away, you could have chosen another plane to hitchhike on. I thought you were smarter than that." 

Kurt took this as his cue to try something else. "_Fraulein_ Munroe, ve didn't think that you vould object to an escort by your two humble servants." 

Evan could have smacked his hand to his head in despair. Oh great, Kurt, commit us to slavery while you're at it!! 

If it was possible, the sky grew even darker, and Ororo looked like she was going to say something else, when a glint that Evan found extremely disturbing came into her eye, and a smile began to tug at the corners of her lips. "Oh, so you just wanted to escort me, Kurt? Well, I'm flattered." She crooked her finger at the two of them, and headed back into the airport terminal. "And it just so happens that I could use some help with… physical tasks." 

Moments later, both Evan and Kurt staggered out, lugging two huge bags behind them. Storm strolled out after the two teenagers, smiling to herself. "You can place them here. Once I hail a taxi, place them into the trunk. You'll accompany me back to the hotel, and then I'll give a call to the Professor. I'm afraid I'm going to have to trouble him to send somebody down here and pick you up." 

Storm steeled herself for the response. "No! Auntie O, please!! We just wanted to have a vacation with you!!" She closed her eyes, and massaged her temples slowly. She knew that it was going to be hard, but not _this_ hard!! How could she turn down her nephew and his good friend when they were pleading with her like this? After all, they'd only wanted to have a little bit of fun. And besides, she'd always had a soft spot for Kurt and Evan. 

Shaking her head, she opened her eyes and hailed the taxi. At the same time, Kurt and Evan studied Ororo's reaction closely, scrutinizing her every move, and trying to discern how she was likely to respond. They exchanged glances, knowing that there was hope for them yet. "Get in." Ororo Sighed heavily. "We'll talk when we get to the hotel."

*          *          *          *

Later, At the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans

*          *          *          *

Ororo opened the door leading into the small hotel room and stepped inside, leaving the two teenagers hidden behind her to peer cautiously through the doorway at what was inside. The room, though small, was lavish, and the king sized bed sitting in the middle of the room was just _begging _to be bounced on. Kurt found himself having to strongly resist the urge to hop onto the bed in the middle of the room and start jumping up and down on it, knowing that the rather upset Ororo would not approve of him doing such a thing. However, he still couldn't get it into his head that this was like a vacation of sorts and he just felt like he was on top of the world. They were in New Orleans! On vacation! They'd made it this far, surely Ororo would let them stay. 

Evan and Kurt exchanged glances with each other before they entered the room. One didn't have to be a telepath to figure out what they were planning. Evan was the one who decided to take the initiative. He stepped after Ororo first, doing his best to seem authoritative when he was lugging a heavy suitcase full of clothes after him. Kurt followed slowly behind, looking over Evan's shoulder at Ororo. The windrider was sitting on the edge of the bed, her arms crossed over her chest as she fixed her piercing gaze at the two delinquents. "Well?" she asked, looking at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. "Aren't you going to come in? We have to discuss your little 'vacation', you know."

Kurt moved up front to stand beside his compatriot, and the two of them put the luggage down in front of them, as if doing so would create some kind of barrier between them and the disapproving Storm that would shield them from her wrath. "Uh, Auntie O, about that…"

"What about it? You only lied to the people at the mansion, snuck into my car, stole onto a plane using your powers, and were planning to follow me all the way to New Orleans with nothing but some clothes, your skateboard, and a little bit of money! What if something had happened to you? What if somebody saw you using your powers, or you got lost back here somehow and ran out of money? You could have gotten stranded here, or worse! Be discovered for what you are- mutants! You know that the humans aren't ready to know about us yet." With each word, Ororo started to grow more and more agitated until the sky outside started to flash with lightning again. The control that the windrider normally displayed over her emotions was starting to slip as she grew all the more upset by what might have happened to her nephew and his good friend.

"I know, Auntie O, and I'm sorry. Really. I know that we shouldn't have snuck off with you. But all we wanted to do was follow you on your vacation. You know that there was no way that the Prof would have said yes."

"And why not?" asked Ororo, blue eyes flashing. "You're in the middle of the school semester, and you, most of all, Evan, have not been showing maturity, discipline, or responsibility when it comes to your studies."

At this, Evan looked up, indignant. "But I've been better!! Mr. McCoy said so!! And I saved you when the Hungan came for you, Auntie O!!"

"Yes, you may have improved, but that does not mean that there is no more room for improvement, you know. Your grades still leave much to be desired, Evan." The tirade left Evan dumbfounded, and he knew better than to say any more, knowing that he had been defeated. However, Ororo was not done. She turned her gaze to the extremely uneasy Kurt, who was staring with profound intensity at the lush carpet on the floor. "And Kurt. How could you think that you could get away with all this? Did you think that you would have been able to follow me around without my noticing sooner or later? How about your accommodations? Or your food? And did you not wonder about how much everybody back at the Institute might have worried about your safety and well-being? Did you even know _why _I had come to New Orleans? It's not going to be safe following me around. You're a good child, and I would have thought that you would be more responsible than this. I'm ashamed of the both of you." 

Both Kurt and Evan were silent, staring at the floor. Evan wore a look of anger on his face, his dark eyes hardened at the scolding that he had just received. Something told him that his Auntie O had not been lying or exaggerating when she had scolded him, but part of him had always hated being reprimanded, and this really stung. 

Kurt was in turn also wounded by Ororo's harsh words. He knew that she had not said them with the intent to hurt him, but the brutal frankness of her tirade had stung him. This was meant to be a vacation, after all. It had all been in good fun. And now, this. Why did Storm react so violently? And what did she mean by 'Did we know why she came to New Orleans?' He wondered, with just a hint of anger creeping into his mind. Stupid. He growled mentally, scolding everybody and nobody in particular. If  I'd known that this was going to happen, I wouldn't have thought about coming. I went through all that trouble for nothing.*

Storm watched the two teenagers with a mixture of regret and yet, curiously, at the same time, non-regret. She'd meant every word she'd said to them, and yet she wished that she hadn't said it so harshly. She hadn't meant to hurt them this way. They didn't know that this mission was going to be dangerous. They didn't have any idea about her plans. New Orleans was just a stopover for some information.

The silence drew on, harsh, condemning, and it grated on everybody's nerves, especially Ororo's. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she decided to apologize. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so harsh." 

The silence stretched on. Kurt had turned off his image inducer, and she noticed him staring at her from under his eyebrows, while his tail lashed furiously behind him. Evan avoided her gaze completely, and that action was altogether more condemning than anything else he could have said. "I, however, am not sorry about my words. I am just sorry that I was so harsh just now. I am not sure if you realize the magnitude of this trip. This is not just a pleasure trip, for relaxation. I have a mission to complete here. There is possible danger involved here, and I certainly do not wish to see you hurt because of me."

Some more silence. Then Kurt started talking. "We could help." 

Ororo looked at him. No… I can't. Her conscience was violently against the mere _thought_ that she might let them join her. You're going to try and infiltrate this gang that Remy told you about. How on earth can even think about letting these two boys- children, mind you! Follow you on this mission? And yet part of her felt that having the company and the help of these two boys with her would come in useful. She grimaced at the prospect of making this decision. So, instead, she decided to postpone the inevitable and stall for some time.

"Why don't you both go and wash up. We'll talk some more later." With that, she gently shooed them away. Both teens headed away grudgingly towards the restroom, where they were going to change into their PJs. Once they were sure that they were out of earshot, Evan nearly exploded.

"Dude! All I wanted to do was have some FUN!!" He gritted his teeth together, and for a moment, Kurt was worried that his friend would live up to his codename and start shooting spikes out all over the place, utterly destroying the restroom and in turn angering Ororo even more.

"_Ja_, I know how you feel, man. But you know what she said is true. And I have the feeling that she's hiding something." 

Evan didn't appear to have heard much. In his blind rage, he was growling to himself, muttering curses and other obscenities that would have made a sailor blush. It was only when Kurt mentioned something about hiding that he paused, and the red haze cleared from his eyes a little so that he could think. "What did you say?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. It figured that Evan hadn't heard much. He was always like this when he was angry. "I said, I think she's hiding something."

Puzzlement immediately replaced anger. After all, Evan had always been the curious kind. "Like what? I mean, this is just a vaca, a road trip." 

"That's vhat I thought too. But did you hear the line about 'vhy' she had come to New Orleans?" 

"Yeah." Evan didn't really get where this conversation was headed, but he was curious to find out.

"That means that she's here looking for something. I think she's vorried for our safety. You saw her reaction vhen I said that ve could help. She doesn't know vhether to get us to help her or to send us back so that ve vill be safe." 

A look of realization dawned on Evan's face. "So in order to let us stay, we have to convince her that we'll be able to help her."

A look of mischief returned to Kurt's eyes. "_Ja._ Now you're getting somevhere. And you saw just how torn she vas. She doesn't know vhether she should say no to us."

Evan broke out into a huge grin. "And that's where I come in. Because I just happen to be Auntie O's favorite nephew. And saying no to me is something she just can't do."

"Dude, you're her only nephew. And she's said no to you plenty of times." Kurt pointed out factually, as he started to change into his sleep clothes. 

"That doesn't matter! When I pull out the big guns, no way Auntie O can resist my charms. Heck, even my mom can't say no to me when I really want something." 

*          *          *          *

Outside, Ororo was getting ready for bed. And she couldn't help but grin as she heard the two rascals conversing. They were smart, but there was no way that they could have factored in her skills. After all, neither of them had any sort of idea about Ororo's past as a thief. She really did hate to put an end to all their plans before they could even start. 

But do you really have to say no? Their skills would be an asset in this mission. A small voice whispered in her ear. 

Ororo shook her head vigorously. Out of the question. It's far too dangerous.

The small voice came back with a completely different approach. You know, Evan's right. When he really puts his mind to it, you can't say no to him. 

Oh no, you don't. Ororo stopped the voice dead in it's tracks. There's no way I'm saying yes to him. 

One week couldn't hurt. They could certainly use the break. And you said it yourself- they're good children. The voice purred in her ear. 

At this point, Ororo knew she was whipped. They're teenagers. Not children. She snapped mentally. 

Because the voice was her own, it knew that she was defeated, too, and its smirk was clearly visible in her mind's eye. Excuses, excuses.

Ororo groaned. Oh, alright. They can stay over the weekend. It will be good to have their company. 

The voice was about to retort something in reply when the bathroom door opened and Evan and Kurt traipsed out, looking a lot more cheerful than they had looked when they had gone in. "Hey, Auntie O." 

Even if Ororo hadn't heard anything, she would have been _very_ suspicious at the sudden change in Evan's mood. "Hello, Evan. You're looking a lot more cheerful." She did her best to hide her smile. 

"Yeah. Uh, Auntie O… I was wondering if you'd let me and Kurt at least stay for awhile longer. I know that we were wrong in following you, but hey, I mean, a few days can't hurt."

"Alright. You may stay for the weekend." 

Kurt's eyes widened in shock at the sudden way that Storm had suddenly changed her mind. Evan, on the other hand, didn't seem to hear his aunt at all. "And we'd be able to protect you. Remember, I saved you from the Hungan. And we can carry your luggage." Kurt nudged Evan, and he stopped. "What?" 

Ororo looked fondly at her nephew. "You can stay for the weekend."

"Oh." The words took a moment for it to sink in, and then he realized what his aunt had just said. "Oh! All right!! We can stay!!" He grinned at Kurt.

Ororo watched the exchange with a smile on her face. Oh, did she love these teenagers.

*          *          *          *

* I know Kurt's got an accent, but he don't think in no accent, people. J Actually, since German's his first language, he probably thinks in that, but I don't know German, so I can't do that. So I will play the almighty author and make him think in English. 

Author's Notes:

Yahoo!! Ok, I'm back to writing now. Since it's spring break for me next week, expect a whole frenzy of chapters, since I probably won't be able to get that many chapters up once school starts again. I suspended writing for a while due to the sudden flooding of homework and midterms. In addition, I got so screwed on my accounting mid-term that even if I get perfect scores for the rest of the semester, it was so bad that I won't be able to get any higher than a B for my final grade- that's how badly I screwed up. Now I know what all of you guys are saying- 'What's so bad about a B?' Well, in answer to that, since I'm a typical Asian overachiever, a B is not good enough, and if I get a B, I will be interrogated by the 'rents on why I didn't do well enough to get an A. So I will slow down even more on my writing until I'm confidant that I'm on terra firma again.

And now, regarding the real story- to all of you guys who responded, I'm really grateful. It's good to take stock every once in a while and see how you're progressing. xFreakx, I'm flattered you reviewed. If I can hook people into reading my interfic even though they don't have a character in it, then I know I've succeeded. I know that I've hooked Sorciere. J And she's done the same for me. I love her fics. And I really love your fic, too. You're an excellent writer, and I'm glad that you picked my character. J To Jillybean and phoenixdreams, thanks for the feedback. Very useful, and I'll definitely keep the character feedback in mind. J Same to Icequeen and Bazzer. Oh yeah, Icequeen, at your request, I will have Eclipse and Fayre reconcile, but not after a… *drum roll* catfight!! Yes, there will be a catfight later on. Just for laughs. J 

Yes, my muse contributed that one. He wanted to give you guys that little tidbit. Oh yeah, and he loves you all, too. And he says that he's fine after he got over the hangover and my assaulting him for his drunken behavior. And he's free tonight, if any of you ladies want to go out. Waitaminit, these are the author's notes, not the personal ads!! Go get your own dates, and you better make sure that they _aren't_ reviewers for my fics!! *chases muse off the stage*


	10. Parental Consent

Thieves, Scoundrels, And All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 10

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, thanks so much. *muah* Love you all. J 

Phoenixdreams: The gang referred to by Ororo last chapter was the crew. Sorry that you got confused.

Reminder: This chapter takes place at the same time as chapters 8 and 9. Well, actually, this chapter starts a little earlier, just after the heist, really, when Carey was unsuccessful in getting Gambit to join the crew.

Disclaimer: Only Carey is owned by me- him and the storyline. Katherine belongs to Kitty Kat, and Gabe belongs to Rafer Z. Who knows, maybe I'll give Carey to Icequeen after we're done with the story so that she can have her evil way with him. J 

*          *          *          *

Suncook, New Hampshire

*          *          *          *

Carey sighed deeply, and took another sip of his juice. He was sitting in a rented car, watching the entrance to the Suncook High School. He'd been in New Hampshire for the past day or so, looking to recruit their newest crewmember. This one was going to be difficult, though. As of this year, she was only 17 years old, and technically, even if she agreed to join the crew, there was no way that they could just leave without telling her parents. And how on earth was he going to get her parents to say yes to allowing their daughter go off with a group of wanted criminal mutants so that she might be able to rob terrorists of the money they paid for black market weapons? He wondered if he should call in Gabe for help. If push came to shove, he could get Gabe to force the girl's parents to allow her to come along. Yeah, he'd get Gabe to fly over ASAP. Besides, it would be good to have the company of his best friend. It got tiring, traveling alone all the time.

And he still needed to contact her. What if she didn't _want_ to do this mission? They'd need another electronics expert. He knew somebody who was a decent hacker, but he and Adrienne had been planning to use those skills in addition to those of an electronics expert. As it was, Adrienne had already mentioned that it was not likely that Travis was going to be joining them. If that was the case, they were going to be short of a demolitions expert. They couldn't afford to be short of an electronics expert, as well.

Just then, the bell signaling the end of what Carey estimated to be the 5th period rung, and he put down his late breakfast and picked up his binoculars. He lifted them to his eyes and peered through them. Sure enough, he spotted her. At least, her in her human form. He looked down at the photo he had stuck into the dashboard of the way Katherine had looked like before her mutant abilities had manifested. 

A girl with green eyes and hair too shocking a purple for most people to believe that it was natural walked out of the classrooms with the other students that had finished their classes. Her black trench coat billowed around her as she walked briskly, and Carey noticed that most of the other students kept a berth around her, keeping some distance away from the girl. He put down his binoculars, and reached forward to turn the car engine off. Carey opened the door, and stepped out of the sleek Acura that he had been sitting in. 

He'd never actually met Katherine before, so this encounter was going to be a first for the both of them. He mentally assessed his appearance in the reflection of the car's mirrors. Whether it was by coincidence, or something else, he too was dressed all in black this morning. A soft black linen button shirt was worn underneath a light black sport jacket, and a pair of slim fitting black pants completed the ensemble. He knew he definitely did not look like a teenager, but he wasn't planning to stay long either, and he certainly was not going to dress like a teenager just to 'blend in'. Not his style. 

He watched the head of short-cropped violet hair moving towards the library, and he started walking towards her. He weaved through the crowd, and increased the length of his strides. Needless to say, he was not very tall, and he had to walk faster to try and catch up to her. He noticed, out of the corner of his eyes, that some of the girls were watching him, and he distinctly heard somebody say, "I hope he's the new substitute teacher." Carey grinned at this ego boost. It was always nice to know that people found you attractive.

Looking up, Carey realized that he'd nearly lost sight of Katherine, and he spurred himself to walk faster. He was already starting to lose sight of her in the crowd, and he certainly did not want this annoying, albeit small setback to happen. He saw that she was headed behind the library, and he moved to intercept her. He saw her widen her strides, and he in turn lengthened his own in an effort to try and catch up with her. The crowd was slowly thinning as they moved farther and farther away from the classrooms, towards the back of the school gym and the enormous empty football field that was still under construction.

Katherine glanced back, and saw that her suspicions were correct. The Chinese man that she had suspected was following her was still on her tail, and now that there was hardly anybody in their vicinity, he wasn't even keeping up the pretense of going about his own business anymore. What was worse, he was actually closing in on her. Her fast walk broke out into a trot, and she saw him do the same as well, as he sought to catch up with her. Damn. She cursed silently. If she didn't think of some way to elude him, she was going to be in deep trouble. There were dozens of people who wanted her dead, and he could be any one of them- although the last time she checked, she hadn't remembered angering anybody in the Chinese triads. But still, one could never be too sure when it came to one's own life.

She rounded the last bend and dove to the side, seeking to ambush him, so that if it came down to a fight, she might have the upper hand. She leaned back against the dusty concrete wall, waiting for the man to walk past her. But he never did. After a few minutes, she decided to take the risk and peek out from around the corner, hoping to see where that man might be. Just as she stuck her head out around the corner, she heard a voice start to speak. "Don't bother looking, I'm right beside you." 

She squeezed her eyes shut and felt her heart skip a beat. She groaned mentally. Oh, shit. She would have smacked herself upside the head, if she could have. Turning around to face the stranger, she found herself face to face with a slim Chinese man dressed from head to toe in black. Swallowing her fear, she took a deep breath and did her best to show that she was not to be messed around with. "Whaddya want?" She growled, putting on her fiercest scowl for him, hoping to show her stalker that he didn't intimidate her in the slightest bit.

Carey nearly laughed out loud as the girl fairly contorted her face into what he presumed was a scowl while throwing out a weak sounding, "Whaddya want?" out at him. Perhaps, if the same scowl had been on a man twice his size, he would have been intimidated. As it was, it was all Carey could do to keep himself from laughing out loud. On the girl's youthful 17-year-old face, that scowl just didn't cut it. Shaking his head, he smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "Relax, Katherine. I'm not here to hurt you. Trust me, if I was, I would have done it already, and in a much more subtle way. Did you think that somebody who wanted to kill you would actually have dressed like this in a high school and started tailing you at an obvious distance? I don't think so." 

She looked him up and down, sizing Carey up as best as she could. "Yeah, well, maybe. But if you're not here to hurt me, then why are you tailing me?" 

"Because I have a business proposition to make to you, Katherine. Would you like to skip class for a bit? We could go somewhere to talk." 

Katherine paused, not sure whether or not to take this man up on his offer. But his smile seemed genuine, and the sparkle in his eyes seemed to melt her fears away. If they went to a public place to talk, surely there wouldn't be an issue about safety, would there? After a few more moments of deliberating, she nodded. "Yeah, I suppose we could talk. After all, talking never hurt anyone."

Carey snorted. "Yeah, well, you've obviously never met a politician. Or my friend." He then looked back down at Katherine, and smiled at her. "I know of a Starbucks nearby. It's within walking distance, and it's crowded enough so that you'll be safe. Is that satisfactory?" 

Katherine never really remembered saying yes to this stranger, and yet, 5 minutes later, she found herself at Starbucks with this man- no, wait, gentleman would be a more appropriate term. He was so… nice. And polite. She watched him as he stood in line, ordering drinks for the both of them. As if he felt her gaze upon him, he turned around, and sent another reassuring smile her way. He certainly wasn't very _handsome_, but he was pleasant to look at. And to think that she still didn't even know his name. Why had she come here with him in the first place? 

Carey walked back over to where the young girl sat, and he slid into the seat across from her, placing her drink in front of her. "A caramel frappacino, just like you asked for. And don't worry, it's on me. And in case you were wondering, my name's Carey. Carey Li, to be exact."

Katherine took a sip of her drink, and looked at Carey. "Alright, then. Carey. You said that you had a business proposition for me." She rolled the name Carey around in her mouth, enjoying the way that he said it. A pleasant name. So like it's owner.

"Yes. That." Carey's dark eyes took on a distant look, and he paused, as if gathering his thoughts. "If you agree to this, I guarantee that you will be the richest 17-year old teenager in the country."

At the word "richest", Katherine found herself perking up her ears, and leaning in closer to listen to Carey's words. "Go on." 

"I'll tell you the truth, Katherine. I'm a conman. Not only that, but I'm also a mutant. And I know that you're a thief, and that you're a mutant as well." Katherine's eyes narrowed at his words, and she positively recoiled in shock at the 'm' word. You didn't discuss such things in public!! Mutants were social outcasts- things that weren't spoken of, much like sex, in America's puritanical culture. And how did he know that she was a thief? Wait, he had mentioned that he was a conman. So he'd had received word about her. 

Carey watched her reaction. She was obviously shocked that someone had been able to pinpoint her location, but she hadn't gotten up to leave just yet. And that was a good sign. "Please, let me say some more. I have a partner, and we're planning to pull off a heist in about 2 month's time. It's a very big one, and as such, we need a big crew to pull it off. And not only is the crew going to have to be big, it's going to have to be very skilled as well. Which is why I'm here to talk to you. I know for a fact that you're one of the best electronic experts out there, and probably the only one who's a mutant. And it's imperative that very single one of the people in our crew be mutants."

"Why?" Asked Katherine.

"I don't get you." Answered Carey, looking faintly confused at her question.

"Why all mutants?" She asked. "Is your partner a mutant, too?" 

"Yes, she is a mutant. And I can't tell you the whole reason why. But I can tell you this- mutants have abilities. And these abilities make each mutant much more useful than a normal human being. And in a heist like this one, I'm definitely going to need all the usefulness I can get out of my crew." 

Carey's answer was simple, and to the point. Katherine appreciated this. People needed to be more frank in their dealings. Sometimes, people were so full of bull it made her want to curse them all and just walk out on them. Saying something when you didn't mean it was backstabbing, in her book. It didn't matter if you were trying to say it to 'protect' somebody. It was better to just shut up and not say anything than it was to lie and backstab others. 

She wandered along this trail of thought for a few moments, before pulling herself back to the present and wondering about this offer that Carey had made her. Should she accept? Would it be worth the risks? Could she trust Carey? What would her parents say about all this? 

Carey watched as Katherine pondered her decision. He couldn't blame her if she didn't accept. After all, she didn't even know him. So he was greatly surprised when Katherine finally looked up at him and said, "I'll do it."

He nearly laughed in relief. She said yes! 

A huge smile broke out on his face, and Katherine found herself being transported back to her earlier thoughts about Carey. Oh, he's so pleasant to look at. The women must throw themselves at his feet. But can I afford to be this distracted during the mission? She shook her head vigorously. She could worry about that later. Right now, the greatest obstacle that stood in their way was her parents. "I wouldn't be so happy if I were you." She looked at Carey, arching one eyebrow. "There's no way that my parents are going to allow me to leave just like that so that I can help a stranger rob somebody of their money, or whatever it is that we're going to steal from them. How're you going to convince them to let me go with you?" 

Carey stood up, and pushed his chair away from the table, once again flashing that dazzling smile at the teenager. "Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it. Just be prepared for my visit tomorrow. And I'll have a friend with me, so don't panic when you see somebody else with me on your doorstep tomorrow afternoon." With that, he turned around to walk away. "You have a good day, Katherine." 

She watched him walk off into the sunlight, a slim figure dressed all in black. "It's Kat." She whispered to no one in particular, still sipping the drink that he had given her.

*          *          *          *

The Next Day

*          *          *          *

Kat walked slowly home from school, kicking at a stray soda can along the sidewalk. Crap, but this had been a lousy day. She'd found her locker trashed by the friggin' cheerleaders, and she'd later found out that she had failed her Geometry test. Stupid test. Stupid school. She didn't see why she still had to study. She knew more about electronics and stealing than did most adults twice her age. Before she knew it, she found herself at her house, and noticed a strange car parked in the driveway. It was a sleek silver Acura, and she wondered whom it could belong to.

Then she remembered what Carey had said yesterday. "Just be prepared for my visit tomorrow." Her eyes widened in shock, and she fairly flew up the stairs towards the house. Bursting in through the door, she found herself looking at her mother and her father sitting in the living room with Carey and another stranger. Damn, Dad actually came home for this. When her parents saw her, they smiled, and her mother patted a place on the couch next to her. 

"Oh, honey, you're finally home. Here, come and join us. These two gentlemen have a very interesting proposal to make that concerns you." Kat walked over to her mother, and dropped her books onto the floor, before joining her mother on the couch. "This here is Mr. Carey Li, and his friend is Mr. Gabriel LaFacentia." She gestured to Carey and his friend Gabriel, and Katherine took in Carey and his friend, who were both sitting casually, side by side on the couch opposite them. This time, Carey was wearing a white shirt under a gray suit, while his friend was dressed in a gray silk shirt paired with a pair of black pants. Carey's friend was much taller than he was, and was _very _handsome, too. His blue eyes took her in, and she boldly met his stare with her own. He seemed to be pleased by this, and flashed a smile back at her. 

"What about them?" asked Katherine, looking questioningly at her mother. 

Her mother exchanged looks with her father, and he cleared his throat before starting to speak. "Well, they've informed us that you've won a scholarship of sorts." 

Katherine's mother nodded vigorously. "Oh yes. And they say that it's _very_ prestigious." She then looked shyly at Carey's friend, and batted her eyes at him. "Isn't that right, Mr. LaFacentia?" Katherine suddenly felt her stomach become very queasy. Was her mother flirting with that guy? Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick.

Gabe smiled back at Katherine's mother, and nodded. "That's right, Madam. We'd love it if you would allow Katherine to join us. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I don't think that she should pass it up." 

Katherine's father leaned forward and picked up a stack of paper that was stapled together. Katherine caught a glimpse of the cover as he started to flip through it, and noticed that the sheets were blank. That was her first clue that something was wrong here. She looked up at Carey and Gabriel, and her green eyes met Carey's dark gaze. Was there just the faintest hint of a smile in them?  

"Yes, well, this does seem very prestigious." Murmured Katherine's father. "And you're saying that she would miss how many weeks of school, Mr. LaFacentia?" 

"Only 8 weeks, sir." Katherine noticed that his gaze was focused directly on her dad's, and now that she thought about it, there was a strange quality to the tone of his voice. It was almost… hypnotic, somehow. "And I'm afraid that if you agree to it, Katherine would have to leave right away. In fact, it's a good idea if she packs up right now." 

Katherine looked back and forth between Gabriel and Carey. Ok, now this is getting weird. What the hell is going on? But before she could say anything, her mother chimed in enthusiastically. "Oh, that's a wonderful idea. Kat, honey, why don't you go pack up now? After all, we don't want to keep these two gentlemen waiting." 

I haven't even said yes yet!! Her mental voice screamed in protest, even though she knew that technically, she'd said yes to Carey's offer yesterday. You didn't even ask me whether I wanted to do this! She looked back up and Carey, and the twinkle in his eyes was unmistakable. "Why don't you go up and pack, Katherine? We'll be leaving after this. And you don't have to pack too much- we could always take you shopping later on."

Katherine paused for a moment, until her dad turned to face her. "Go pack up, Katherine. I know that this is rushed, but it's for your own good." 

Now Dad's ordering me to go pack up. What the hell is going on here?! "Wh-what about school?" she stammered out. 

"Oh, we'll take care of it." Giggled Kat's mom, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Don't you worry, hon." 

Mom GIGGLES?!

"Ooookay." Katherine slowly got up, and started to head towards her room. Before she got to the stairs, she turned around to face Carey and Gabriel again. 'Go,' he mouthed at her. At this, something finally clicked into place, and Katherine realized that her parents had just given permission to Carey and Gabriel to let her go on a heist for 2 months! A huge grin spread out onto her face, and she leaped up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She was free!! 

Within 10 minutes, 2 conmen and 1 electronics expert were walking out the door of her house. Katherine looked back at her parents, and saw them waving at her happily. They really think that I'm going away on a scholarship. She turned and looked at her two companions, who were both waving back at her parents. "What the hell did you two do to them, anyways?" 

Carey took her small carrier bag from her, and hoisted it into the car of the trunk. "Oh, nothing much. Isn't that right, Gabe?" 

"Yep. They just needed a little persuasion, that's all." She noticed the grins on their faces, and knew that she had missed something. 

"Ok, what're you guys hiding from me?" She glared suspiciously at Carey, who was opening the door to the back seat for her, while Gabe got into the driver's seat of the car. "Well?" 

"Oh, it's nothing. Just Gabe's mutant ability, that's all." Carey closed the door after Katherine had gotten into the car. "You'll find out about it." He walked over to the passenger's side of the car, and got in. "Later." 

The sound of Gabe's and Carey's laughter could be heard as they both drove down the street. 

&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@

Author's Note:

AH! Finally! I'm done!! Freee!!! Ok, yes, I know I said that I was going to go into an updating frenzy, but I had a few papers to write. And I've been trying to apply for this scholarship. You know how hard it is to write about yourself, and why you wanna work with a certain company when in reality, you don't? 

Oh, but I did post something else up. Check out my songfic, and review!! Yay!! And in case you're wondering why I was working on a songfic while I was writing this (because I told you all that I'm a one-fic-at-a-time writer) it's because I was zapped by my muse, who happened to hit me with an idea for such a songfic while I was watching the video of the same name on MTV. Besides, it's a one-shot, so writing it wasn't too hard. 

And thanks to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter. J Encouragement always helps me write. And Kitty Kat, the bio wasn't very descriptive, so I took the liberty of adding stuff in here and there. Hope you don't mind. If I was wrong in anything, then tell me, ok? And I'm so sorry, Kilroy, everybody's characters have been introduced except yours. You've been wonderfully patient with me. But the next chapter is going to be theirs. Guaranteed. And I'm working on creating the best possible catfight, just for all you guys. J 

So until the next chapter!! 


	11. Barroom Brawls

Thieves, Scoundrels and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 11

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

Just to tell you all, the timeline is no longer suspended for this chapter- meaning that this now takes place after Adrienne talks to Travis (and gets turned down), after Carey and Gabe recruit Katherine, and after Storm finds out about Kurt and Evan following her. Kapeesh? Then let's get started!!

Oh, and before I forget- the disclaimer!! Kilroy and CK both belong to Kilroy Evans, and Adrienne belongs to me. 

*          *          *          *

Charlotte, North Carolina

*          *          *          *

Adrienne dug her hands into her pockets, and tried to snuggle back deeper into her coat. Damn, but she hated the cold. The fact that she lived in sunny California didn't help with her resistance, either. It had been worse in Michigan, when she'd tried to recruit Travis, but North Carolina wasn't exactly pleasant, either. Just then, her phone rang shrilly, and a few people walking along the icy sidewalk turned to look at the source of the sound, reacting on pure instinct, before they looked away nonchalantly. 

It was a quiet Friday night in Charlotte, and it was late. Most people her age would have been out clubbing, and drinking, but this wasn't exactly the most happening spot in town, so there wasn't much human traffic. She was here looking for the last crewmembers on the list that Amethyst had given her. The list that she said Carey had drawn up.

Adrienne frowned slightly. She still hadn't heard from her elder brother in more than a day, and she was worried. Granted, they were still in the early stages of the heist, but it wasn't like Carey to go so long without any correspondence or feedback- he always checked in with her at least once a day- after all, since the two of them were planning this thing together, they had to constantly update each other. Still, all had to be fine- Amethyst had told her that Carey had called just after she had left for Michigan and asked her to send Gabe over ASAP, and had called just yesterday to tell her that he and Gabe had been successful in recruiting their newest member. 

Adrienne reached into her pocket, and pulled out the cell phone. Turning it on, she put it to her ear. "Adrienne here." 

"So, I heard that Travis wasn't so enthusiastic about joining us in our little escapade." Adrienne grinned with relief when she heard the voice that sounded over the line. 

 "Why didn't you call me yesterday? You worried me half to death!!"  

"What, no 'Hello', no 'I've missed you', no 'Good to see you, _Da Ge_?' ?" His chuckle of amusement rang warmly in her ear. "You know, this proves once and for all that you really care for me, Addy. Whether you like to admit it or not, you were worried for me." 

"Yeah, whatever." Muttered Adrienne flippantly. However, deep down inside, she knew that Carey was right. She had been worried. 

*          *          *          *

Paul Kilroy Evans sat at a bar, sipping at his beer while surveying the crowd here tonight. His pal and roommate CK wasn't feeling all too well, so he had come down for his nightly drink by himself. Heh, that was a funny thought- calling CK both a pal and a roommate. Truth was that CK was either his friend or his roommate- never both at the same time. The two of them really got along better when they weren't living together. It was a vicious cycle. CK screwed up in something, got kicked out of Paul's apartment, and after a few days, they became friends once again. After that, CK would move back in, and then he'd screw up again, and Paul would kick his friend out again. He loved CK to death, but sometimes, enough was enough. 

The crowd at the bar tonight was more or less normal, with all the usual patrons. Since it wasn't in the busiest night, the movement at the door immediately caught his attention, and Kilroy turned his head, in time to see CK walk through the door. He frowned. What was he doing here? Don't tell me CK lied to me. Again. 

Annoyed, he locked eyes with CK, and his friend took that as the 'hint' it was to get his butt over ASAP. "What's up, Kilroy?" he drawled, as he slid onto the stool next to his friend's. 

"You lied to me." Kilroy glared at his friend. 

"Hey Brian!! Get me a beer!" He called out to the bartender, and then he answered his friend. "So what's new?" His smooth, rich voice didn't seem to have much of a soothing effect on his friend, however. 

"Dude, I am _sick_ and _tired_ of you lying to me!" 

"Chill." CK rolled his eyes and started nursing the beer that the bartender had slid over to him. "Truth was that I wanted to see somebody here today." 

All right, now Kilroy's interest was piqued. Who did CK want to see? "Who?" 

"You remember the new girl who works down at the grocery store?" 

"Yeah. What's her name- Angie?" 

CK nodded. "When I was buying our Pop Tarts this morning, I found out that she comes down here nightly. So I told you that I was sick so that you'd go to the other bar down the street. You never come here alone." 

"Yeah, well, you're wrong." Actually, CK was right. He rarely ever came to this bar alone. Usually, he was with CK when he hung out here. But he'd wanted a change of environment, so he'd decided to get a drink here tonight. "So basically, you wanted me gone so that you could chat up Angie, is that right?" 

"In a nutshell." Agreed his friend. "And there she is." He looked up, and the target of CK's affections walked in through the door- right on the arm of a hulking monster of a man. 

Kilroy snorted derisively. "Well, you can forget about shacking up with Angie. Not unless you have a way of getting past that guy she's clinging onto for dear life." 

"Kilroy, Kilroy. Have more faith, man. Remember- I'm the mastermind of our little duo. And I'm never caught unprepared." Kilroy gave CK a look that was an equal part of amusement, disbelief, and annoyance. "So here's what we do-" 

"Hold it!!" Kilroy held his hand up, halting CK mid-plan. "There is no 'we'. There never has been a 'we' whenever it comes to your crazy plans." CK leaned back, allowing his friend to continue his tirade, knowing that trying to stop him would've been useless. Sometimes, he wondered how the two of them managed to stay friends. They were more like a quarrelsome couple than anything else, really. 

Meanwhile, Kilroy was still going strong. "I never agreed to help you. Don't forget, you were the one who lied that you weren't feeling well so that you could ditch me and come here to hook up with this girl that you've been eyeing for what, 2 days? And now you want me to help you with one of your harebrained schemes. I won't even bother saying the answer, because you know what it already is." 

"You're going to say that it's a no. And that doesn't matter because you'll help me anyways, whether you say yes or no." This elicited a furious glare from Kilroy, but he knew that his friend was right, as usual. It sometimes disturbed him to see that CK broke the law so easily, but truthfully, when push came to shove, breaking the law wasn't all that bad, either. The concept just disturbed him morally. Then again, how else were they supposed to pay their bills? Surely other people didn't pay for their bills with just their day job. Or did they? He wasn't really sure. 

CK observed his friend, knowing that Kilroy wouldn't be able to avoid the inevitable. Finally, after he had chugged down the rest of his beer, he growled out something that sounded remotely like a 'yes'. Knowing that that was going to be the best answer he was going to get, he proceeded with the laying out of his plan. "Ok, so here's what we're gonna do…" 

*          *          *          *

5 Minutes Later 

*          *          *          *

Kilroy was busy playing pool at one of the tables, and "coincidentally" enough, it was the same table where Angie's date also playing. Kilroy was normally an ace at pool, but CK's instruction was to 'suck', and so he was currently playing lousy. And feeling the terrible itch of trying to play better. Damn, but it was hard to suck! Still, he had to carry on the charade, for Kilroy's sake. So he continued with his loud boasts and catcalls. Angie's Boyfriend managed to get another ball in, and Kilroy immediately seized the chance to egg the other guy into annoyance. "Hah! Is _that_ the best you can do? A baldie sitting in a wheelchair could play better than that!!" (A/N: Heh, inside joke!! Invisible monster strawberry daiquiris to whoever guess who I was talking about!!) 

"Shut up!" growled another player. "You haven't made a single shot in the entire game." Apparently, Kilroy was succeeding in his task. 

"Doesn't mean that I'm not gonna be able to make some more later on." Boasted Kilroy. He noticed that while this was wearing down the patience of the other players, Angie's Boyfriend still remained stoically unaffected. He was rather impressed despite himself- it wasn't easy to put up with him once he got started. Being annoying didn't come naturally to him, but he had learned how to be annoying from the best- CK was the reigning king when it came to that. After having to live and put up with the guy for 5 years, he finally knew what the true meaning of annoying was. 

Meanwhile, CK glared at him from the side. Obviously, his friend was getting impatient. "Sod off!!" mouthed Kilroy, before turning back to his game. Kilroy was doing a favor for his friend. If CK couldn't wait a little bit longer, then screw him. He was stretching his neck out for the guy. It wouldn't kill him to wait for a little bit. 

The game progressed on for a few more minutes, with CK getting increasingly agitated. Finally, he motioned to Kilroy to meet him, and moved to the restroom. When his friend showed up a few minutes later, he started pacing up and down the length of the small, smelly room. "This isn't good. It's taking too long." 

Kilroy snorted. "Don't I know that? Man, I've been doing my best to be annoying. Considering how I learned to be annoying from *you*, that's saying a lot." 

CK was about to reply, when he realized what his friend had just said, and glared at him. "Well, maybe it's because I'm *not* annoying." 

Kilroy, however, hadn't stuck around to hear his friend talk. He was already on the way out the door. "Yeah, well, that's what you think." But CK was right. He *had* to try something drastic. And he had just the thing in mind.

*          *          *          *

Meanwhile, Adrienne was walking down the street less than a block away. She'd just exited from a bar that Carey had told her about, but she'd been unsuccessful. Apparently there was only one more bar on the list, but she was tired of walking. Heck, she was tired of traveling, and of finding people who weren't keen on being found. But Carey had promised her that this would be the last of the team members, and she knew as well as he did that since Travis was probably _not _going to be lending his skills to the team, they needed these new crewmembers more than ever.  

Might as well head over to that last place now. If they weren't there, then she would head back to the hotel, and call Carey about this- they could figure out this problem together, she figured. No need to stress herself out more than she already was.

*          *          *          *

CK glared at his friend for walking out on him like that, but he waited for a few minutes, before exiting the restroom. However, he did so only to find that Kilroy had already launched into motion his plan- whatever it was. Right now, his friend was leaned over the table, angling, in a rather ungainly fashion, for a very difficult shot from the absolutely worst angle anybody could possibly have imagined. His rather ample rear had been shoved directly into the face of a patron unfortunate enough to be sitting near his friend's position at the pool table, and Kilroy was sawing the cue back and forth, in an exaggerated attempt to hit the ball currently sitting only a few inches away from the tip of his cue. 

He paused, wondering if he should make his move. Obviously, Kilroy had something up his sleeve, and he should get into position, because neither of them was going to have a very big window of opportunity. However, before CK could make another move, Kilroy had already shot his pool cue out, and instead of hitting the ball positioned in front of it, the tip of the cue scraped across the worn felt of the pool table, before hitting the cue ball at an angle that was never intended for the table. Before CK could blink, the white ball was sailing through the air, flying, flying, until it hit Angie's Boyfriend square in the eye. 

CK's first thought was that Kilroy had screwed up- bad. But then, he realized that that had been the exact plan all along, and he marveled that Kilroy had had the guts and skill to pull such a thing off. To look bad at the pool table when you were as good a player as Kilroy was one thing, but to be able to screw up like this, and hit somebody on the eye with your stray ball, was another thing completely. 

Seizing the small window of opportunity that Kilroy had given him, CK slipped over to Angie's side, and flashed his most dazzling grin at the demure brunette. "Hey, how're you doing?" 

Meanwhile, Kilroy noticed that CK had already gotten started, and he got started on the second half of his plan, working to give CK as much time as possible. He snorted at Angie's Boyfriend, who was pressing one hand to his eye in pain, and at the posse of men who had gathered around him, rolling his eyes at them. "Oh, _puh-leese_. My grandma's taken harder knocks than that and shown less pain." 

That was _not _a good idea. Kilroy decided, as he saw Angie's Boyfriend visibly tense up, and ground his jaw angrily. He knew at that point that he'd gone just a little bit too far, and steeled himself. 

Sure enough, Angie's Boyfriend looked up, and uncovered his left eye, which was already beginning to show signs of very bad swelling. "Then, let _me _show you what kind of a knock gives _real_ pain!!" 

Kilroy, despite being a rather peaceful guy, had been in his fair share of bar brawls, thanks, in no small part, to his constant involvement in his pal CK's crazy schemes. Therefore, Angie's Boyfriend, while fast, in no way took him by surprise, and he easily dodged the first punch, throwing a left hook to the guy's cheek while he was still recovering from his first attack. CK had better be done by now, because this is about as much time as we get!! 

Sure enough, Angie's Boyfriend's lackeys were closing in around him, and it was obvious that there was no way going to miss out on _this _fight. They'd been itching to pound on him ever since he'd opened his big trap, and he knew it as well as they did. He loosened his mental control over his mutant super strength just a little bit- not enough to incapacitate somebody every time he punched them, but just enough to give him enough oomph that they would keep their distance. Still, they had the advantage in numbers, and this was proved when somebody managed to get a punch through his defenses, hitting Kilroy in the back of the head. However, despite the rather forcible use of strength, thanks to his other mutant ability, Kilroy barely staggered, and instead used the momentum to swing around and land one right on his attacker's nose, breaking it and knocking him out completely. 

He glared at the idiot. He hated being snuck up on, and his momentary loss of control had caused him to use more force than was necessary, thus knocking the guy out in one precise hit. But despite his superior strength and invulnerability, Kilroy had enough brains to know when it was time to scram, and this was a _very _good time. He used a little bit more strength now, as he ducked punches and dodged kicks, hoping to keep these guys a little off balance as he talked to CK. 

"Hey, CK!! Time to close shop!!" he hollered over the noise of the bar patrons clamoring for a fight. No point keeping it a secret that they knew each other anymore, since it was obvious that they were done with this place for the time being. 

CK had just managed to get Angie to loosen up and smile, when he heard Kilroy holler something about closing shop. Looking up, he saw his friend right in the middle of a full-out barroom brawl, and he groaned. Guess my time is up. He sighed mentally, and stood up. Winking at Angie, he fished out a card, with only his name and cell phone number on it, and gave it to her. "Call me, ok?" She accepted it, and grinned. 

Seeing as this was about as good of an ending as he could have hoped for, he got up, and waved to Kilroy, signaling that he was ready to leave. But his friend was apparently busy at the moment, and so, with a heavy sigh, CK picked up a bar stool, and walked up to the nearest brawler. He wasn't worried for his friend, with his mutant abilities, he was more than able to take care of himself, and come out of a bar brawl unscathed, but they had to get out of here before it grew out of hand, and the cops showed up.

*          *          *          *

The heels of Adrienne's shoes sounded against the pavement as she walked up the sidewalk, nearing the flashing neon lights of the last bar that she was supposed to head for. As she neared the place, she saw a crowd packing into the place, and halted warily. Crowds in such places were usually bad news, and she was cautious about wading into such a rowdy group without first finding out what she was getting herself into. She watched a man break away from the crowd surrounding the entrance at the bar, and saw him walking towards her. As he neared her, she stepped out, and plucked at his sleeve as he walked past. "Excuse me, mister, but what's going on in that bar?" 

He looked down at the petite Chinese girl in annoyance, and pulled his arm away from Adrienne's grasp. "A bar brawl, that's what. If I were you, I'd stay away from that place for the time being. Messy, and dangerous, especially for a girl like you." 

Adrienne glowered at the man as he walked away, before muttering under her breath. "I'm _not _a girl, you pig." But she decided to follow his advice, and retreated to an alleyway the next building over. Something told her that waiting out here was going to be more profitable than wading into that whole mess looking for those two men, and she was going to follow her instincts and lurk out here waiting for them.

*          *          *          *

CK walked up to a heavily tattooed goon that was doing his best to get in a shot at Kilroy, and CK tapped him on the shoulder. As the guy turned around to see what the source of his disturbance was, CK swung his leg up, and hit the guy squarely in the crotch, before picking up the stool that he'd been holding and swinging it across the guy's face. Having been blessed with the mutant ability of great agility and lower body strength, kicking a guy to incapacitation was absolutely no problem for the lanky CK. If he could jump three stories straight up, this was absolutely cake, and he knew it, too.

This caused the diversion that he'd been counting on, and Kilroy was able to fight his way out of the swarm of brawlers surrounding him, before joining up with CK. Together, they flew out of the bar, and out onto the street. 

*          *          *          *

Adrienne stuck her head out from the alleyway, and saw two guys run out from the bar. She recalled the description that Carey had given her, and mentally matched it up to these two. Both were white, and the lanky one with the goatee had black hair, while the other one was on the stockier side, with a slight paunch and brown hair that had been cut into a short buzz cut. She figured that this was about as close as it was going to get, and the fact that they were probably the cause of that brawl I.D.ed them as the people she was looking for- she somehow doubted that people whom Care had described at 'troublemakers with a genuinely nice streak' were going to be law-abiding citizens. 

She stuck her hand out, and motioned towards herself, while whispering loud enough to get their attention. "Hey!! You two!! Over here!!" 

Both CK and Kilroy heard somebody calling, and looked to their left to see a Chinese woman sticking her head out of an alley, gesturing furiously for the two of them to come towards her. They looked at each other, and shrugged. "Hey, left's as good a direction to run as right, huh?" asked Kilroy, and they sprinted over to Adrienne. 

Once they reached her, they looked at the petite woman. "Look, babe, I know that we're pretty hot, but really, now's _not _a good time to be chatting us up, really." Shrugged CK. 

If looks could have killed, CK would have been fried on the spot. But she ignored his chauvinist statement and instead looked at Kilroy. "I need to talk to the both of you. About a heist." 

"Yeah, well, in case you haven't noticed, now's not the best time." Kilroy shifted his weight from one leg to the other, and looked around nervously. Those guys were going to be running out that bar looking to have CK and him for dinner anytime soon, and they needed to get out of here _now_. 

"If you agree to at least let me talk to you about this heist, I can bail you out." Said the woman. 

Kilroy was about to ask how on earth she was going to do that, when CK chimed in with the most idiotic comment he could ever have imagined at this moment. "Hey, waitaminit. You're from Stanford!" He was referring to the sweater that the girl was wearing. "We're not gonna go with some Stanford chick! Besides, you're better than us, so what do you need me and Kilroy's help for?" 

Adrienne crossed her arms and glared at CK, her patience wearing very thin. "Look, you and I can stand here and argue about my alma mater all you want, or you both can make a decision, and I can get you out of this mess." 

Kilroy looked back at the entrance of the bar in panic. The brawlers were coming out!! And they had spotted the both of them! "Alright, we'll do it!! Bail us out, and we'll talk!" He snapped, desperate. 

The woman didn't respond, only reaching forward to yank the two of them into the alleyway with her. "Keep quiet, both of you." She ordered. Kilroy was baffled, but his bafflement slowly turned to wonder as the entire mob of brawlers ran right past the alleyway, not bothering to even glance in their direction. It was only when the entire mob had run off, and dissipated that the woman stepped out, and signaled that all was clear, indicating that it was safe to talk again. 

"I've got a car parked about two blocks away. The sooner we get out of here, the better." She said, lengthening her strides as she walked at a brisk pace in the opposite direction that the brawlers had headed. 

"What if they come back?" Asked CK, not being annoying for once. 

"Then I'll disguise us again." She said. "By the way, I'm Adrienne." 

"Kilroy." Kilroy introduced himself absently. He was trying to figure out just how Adrienne had managed to hide the three of them from the brawlers, and he kept coming back to the same answer. "This is my friend CK." 

After a few minutes, they reached her car, and they got in. Adrienne started up the engine, and looked at the two passengers. "Know of any place where we can get some coffee and talk undisturbed?" She asked. 

"Uh, yeah. There's a Starbucks a mile or two from here. We could head there." Kilroy answered her question, and returned to his brooding, ignoring CK and his steady stream of chatter, as he contemplated all that had happened in the alleyway. 

Once they had ordered their coffee, Kilroy asked his question. He'd done so even before Adrienne had mentioned anything about that heist she'd mentioned, but he felt that he would burst if he didn't ask her about it. "How did you do… whatever you did back in the alley?" 

Adrienne looked at him, and at the intensity in his eyes. She'd known from the start that the question about how she'd saved them had been bugging him, and she'd just been waiting for him to ask. "How do you think I did it?"

He paused. Even CK was now watching his friend closely, wondering what he was going to say. CK had wondered about that as well, but hadn't had the chance to ask, or really even think about it just yet. Finally, he responded to Adrienne's question with another one. "Are you a… you know, a mut-"

"I wouldn't say that word out here, if I were you." She cut him off before he finished his question, and looked at the two men sitting in front of her. There was an intensity in her gaze that hadn't been there before. " People don't quite like their kind. But the answer's yes. And I know that you two are, as well." 

Both CK and Kilroy looked at each other. So this woman was a mutant. And she knew that they were mutants as well. But hey, if she was a mutant, then maybe they wouldn't really have to worry about being found out. After all, they were in friendly company. Or, at least, company that seems friendly. In this business, you can never be too cautious. Kilroy thought to himself. And it was a great load off their backs- not having to hide their abilities; abilities that were a crucial part of his and CK's arsenal. 

CK looked over at Kilroy, and seemed to read his friend's mind. CK leaned forward, and flashed his trademark smile at Adrienne. "So, you mentioned something about a heist?" 

*          *          *          *

Author's Notes:

Ok, I finally hauled my butt into completing this chapter. A thousand apologies to everyone for the extremely long wait (how long has it been? 3 weeks? A month?), but this chapter's been on the long side, so hopefully, that kinda makes up for it. I did think of stringing two chapters together, but that would mean that you guys would have to wait even longer, and I don't wanna keep you guys waiting any longer than you really have to. 

Ewan .:Don't you think that they deserve more of an apology?:. 

Ah, shaddup. 

Ok, and now, the advertising section of this particular chapter!!! Yes, I realize that this is shameless and pointless as well, but I'm promoting stories by some other authors (and myself) on FF.net that I feel really deserve some more publicity.

Check out the story _Sapphire Run_, by Son Queso. If you like Buffy or Angel, you'll love this. 

Check out xFreakx's interactive fic _A Tenuous Trust_. She's still only 5 chapters into the story, so even if you don't have a character, it won't be that hard to keep up. Besides, she's a fantastic writer, and it really doesn't matter if you don't have a character in her fic, because it's such a pleasure to read.

And lastly… I've written 2 more songfics in between chapters- a Zoids songfic based on the song _Can't Get You Out of My Head_ by Kylie Minogue, and a Lance/Kitty songfic _Ain't It Funny_, based on the song by J.Lo. A fic with a dark twist, very unlike your usual sappy, romantic mush. So read and review!! For all the stories listed above!!

Oh yeah, and one more thing. Kilroy, if I'm portraying CK and Kilroy wrongly, tell me, ok? Also, all constructive feedback is appreciated.

Up Next:

Storm talks to a certain Cajun about this mutant crew that she hears is being assembled, while Kurt and Evan make things difficult for her without even trying to.


	12. A Storm is Brewing

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

By VivaGlam (who used to be Vfgirl)

Chapter 12

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

Yes, this chapter took ages. I'm sorry. I just had to deal with homework and finals and projects and all that kind of crap that floods you when it comes time for the semester to end. But school's almost over (I still have a presentation tonight) and I can concentrate wholly on writing, drawing, and STAR WARS!!! Yesyes, I'll finally get to see Ewan dearest in action, and get to go green with envy at how gorgeous Natalie Portman is. 

And on topic, once again, the timeline is suspended, meaning that this takes place on the same day as does the last chapter. In case you forget, the catfight *is* in the next chapter. I was planning it for this one, but we can't let our X-Geeks fall behind, now can we? Well, they're already behind, but… I'm ruining things. Suffice it to say that the long anticipated catfight is definitely gonna be next chapter.

And the X-Men: Evolution characters all belong to Marvel/WB respectively.

*          *          *          *

New Orleans, Mississippi

*          *          *          *

"I'm boooored!!" Whined the German teenager, as he sat on the steps outside the café with his friend, an black teenager whose striking blonde hair contrasted sharply with his dark skin, making him quite the standout. 

"So? I'm bored, too." grumbled the black teenager. "Auntie O's in there, and she told us not to run off." He ran a hand through his hair, sighing in frustration. "This bites, man. And I couldn't even bring my skateboard." 

In contrast to their sour moods, the weather in New Orleans was perfect that morning. A soft breeze blew in from the Mississippi river, cooling down the heat that radiated off the sun that shone brightly in the sky, and the crowd of tourists drifted to and fro, a soft murmur accompanying the casual, slow pace, the sounds mixing with the smells that wafted through the air, coming from the roadside stalls that were famous for their Cajun food. 

Kurt was about to reply to that when the door behind them opened, and the sound of heels clicking on concrete caused them to turn their heads around, looking at the source of the noise. Ororo Munroe floated down the steps, silver hair floating slightly in the cool breeze, her heels making her look even more statuesque than usual. Her airy skirt fluttered around her knees as the wind played with her clothes, and the soft whisper of silk against chiffon was barely perceptible to all except Ororo herself and her two young charges. 

She looked down at both Kurt and Evan, and smiled faintly at the look of intense boredom that clouded their eyes. "Impatient, aren't we?" She asked.

"Did you get what you needed, Auntie O?" Asked Evan. He fervently hoped that maybe they were finally done with whatever 'business' his Aunt had needed to take care of, and maybe they could finally get to some fun.

"Not quite. But I know exactly where we need to go next. And it's just down the block." Evan's last hope wilted with that comment, and he nearly groaned with horror. Ororo bit her lip, and it was all she could do to prevent herself from laughing. "Don't worry. Once I'm done there, we'll go sample some of New Orleans's famous Cajun cuisine." She promised Evan. That wasn't able to cheer Evan up as much as she had hoped, but Kurt's invisible pointy ears perked up at the prospect of food. "Come on." She walked off in the direction of her next destination. "The sooner I reach there and find Remy, the sooner we can all have lunch."

*          *          *          *

30 minutes, And a Leisurely Stroll Later

*          *          *          *

Ororo pushed open the door to yet another bar, empty, as the previous one before, except for the staff of the establishment. The man bending over the bar attempting to wipe it clean with a dubious looking piece of gray cloth, looked up at her, and grunted. "We're closed, lady. Can't cha read the sign?" 

"I'm not here as a patron." Answered Storm, blue eyes flashing. She raised her chin slightly, and her shoulders straightened out. "I'm looking for Gambit."

The burly man glanced up, and squinted his beady eyes at the striking black woman. "And who's lookin' for him?"

"Stormy!!" the enthusiastic yell was heard from the other side of the room, and both Ororo and the surly bartender looked up to the source of the sound. A good-looking young man with a five o'clock shadow and long brown hair that hung past his eyes leaped over the banister that led to the second floor, the grimy apron covering his shirtless torso flapping slightly as he moved quickly towards the vaguely astonished Ororo. 

"Remy!" She embraced the young man hard, and then she took a step back, and smiled widely. "How have you been?" 

He flicked his bangs back, and grinned at her, flashing a mouthful of white teeth at the older woman. " 'S been ok. What brings Stormy here to see lil' ol' Gambit?"

Meanwhile, both Kurt and Evan had their noses pressed up against the glass, as they tried to peer into the dim bar. Storm's white hair was like a beacon, but the glass was dirty enough, and the bar dark enough that it was difficult to see her and the other man she was talking to. They were very thankful, then, for the new stranger's white- well, gray was a more appropriate term; apron.

Being in the presence of the irrepressible young Cajun thief genuinely lifted Ororo's mood, but then, she remembered why she was looking for Remy, and the smile on her face dimmed. She looked up at him, all laughter gone from her eyes. "Can we talk?" She asked. "I'm afraid it's important."

Remy, sensing her apprehension, nodded, and pulled his apron off. "Let's go talk ups'airs. We c'n talk dere." She nodded, and proceeded to follow him, when he grinned and pointed a thumb in the direction of the grimy plate of glass that stood beside the entrance to the bar. "What 'bout dose two, Stormy? You gonna ask dem to come in, or make dem sit outside all day?" 

Ororo looked, startled by Remy's sudden comment, when she realized that he was referring to her two young 'bodyguards', both of whom were currently pressing their noses to the very dubious looking plate of glass that framed the store. It looks like Remy had still kept that infamous 6th sense that he'd developed from growing up with the Guild of Thieves. She laughed, and shook her head. "I think waiting outside for a short span of time would do their impatient young countenances good." She said. "Besides, that would teach them not to come along when they're not wanted."

Remy raised an eyebrow, quizzical. "Nevermind." Ororo smirked slightly. "Let's head upstairs. I want to ask you about this Carey Li that you told me about." And so the two of them walked up the stairs together, talking animatedly, like the good friends that they were.

"Vell? Vhere are they going?!" asked Kurt, panicking.

Evan thought for a moment, his mind running through possibility after possibility, until… "No way!! Auntie O would never do that!!"

"Do vhat?" It was all Kurt could do to not flap his arms around and throttle his friend. "Tell me!!"

Evan swallowed. "You know why so many women go to places like Bali and Jamaica?" he asked.

Kurt paused. He didn't quite get where the conversation was heading. "Uh, no?" The tone of sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable.

Evan leaned forward, cupping his hand around Kurt's ear, before whispering into it. As he did, Kurt's eyes grew wider and wider, and finally, the German boy could no longer stand it, and pulled away from Evan. "No vay!! Storm vould never do a thing like that!!"

Evan shook his head. "Dude, you think I wanna think about that, too? But think about it. She says that she needs a vacation. And what do people do on vacations? Have a good time. And she was in the last shady, suspicious place for more than an hour. And she's gonna be in there for another hour, all alone, with a good-looking guy who's at least 10 years younger than her…" 

Kurt paled as the image of Ororo writhing underneath that guy in the apron, and… "No!! I vill _not _think of that!!" He shook his head a few times, trying to get rid of those mental images, and glared at Evan. "How could you think of something like that? She's your _aunt_. You're suggesting that she came to New Orleans so that she could have a good time with a bunch of these… gigolos?! You're implying that your _aunt _is a sugar mama, for crying out loud!!" 

Evan folded his arms across his chest, and turned around to lean back against the wall, squatting on the floor. "Yeah, then what do _you_ suggest, wise guy?"

At that retort, Kurt was left blank. He paused, and then shrugged, before joining Evan down on the floor. "I dunno. But she wouldn't leave us out here, would she?" 

Evan sighed. "Who knows? I mean, who would've thought that Auntie O would do such a thing anyways?"

*          *          *          *

Ororo sat down in a chair offered by Remy, and he did the same, leaning back to cross one leg over the other. "So what does Stormy wanna 'no 'bout Carey?"

Ororo shrugged. "Well, for starters, you could tell me how both of you know that the other's a mutant." She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to know, except that she needed to know more.

At her reply, Remy laughed. "Ok, Stormy, you asked fo' it." He leaned back onto the chair, and closed his eyes. "So where to start? Ah, when he caught me pickin' his pocket. Dat was a looong time ago, and Remy not so good a thief back den." He grinned sheepishly. "Den again, Remy only 10 years old, so…"

Ororo leaned forward, interested. "You were picking his pocket?" 

Remy nodded. "Uh huh. Dat was during the Mardi Gras. Carey was about… 18 den, I t'ink. He young, but already a t'ief and scoundrel, like Gambit 'ere." 

Ororo grinned slightly at the thought of a young Remy having been caught by this Carey. "And you didn't know that."

Shaking his head ruefully, Remy's red on black eyes looked mournful. "No. Dat was probably de biggest mistake. But cannot blame Remy, no? Carey is from San Francisco, and Remy never see him before. So Remy t'ink he is just a tourist, seeing de femmes dance around in de bikinis, and steal his wallet."  He sighed. "Den, next t'ing Remy knows, he grab Remy's hand and pull me into de alley." 

Remy was startled by Ororo's laughter. She had covered her mouth, and her eyes sparkled with humor. "Forgive me, I just can't quite imagine you being caught, Remy."

Frowning, Gambit glared at his friend. "I don't see what's so funny, chere." 

She raised her hand. "Very well, then. I'll stop." Still, she wasn't able to wipe the smile off her face. 

Gambit heaved a longsuffering sigh, and then started talking again. "After I give him back 'is wallet, he asked 'f Gambit was a mut'nt."

"And?" Ororo leaned forward, expectant.

"And I didn't know what a mut'nt was. So I told 'im."

If Storm had barely been able to control her laughter before, she was incapacitated this time around. Remy stared at her, dismayed that she was finding this so funny. "What? Gambit only a boy back den. But Carey know 'cuz Gambit has dese eyes." He pointed to his odd looking eyes, and grinned slightly. "So Carey explained to Remy what mutants are. Den we walk around talkin' for de rest o' de day. After dat, Carey give Gambit his n'mber, and we keep 'n touch." 

"Until now?" asked Storm. 

"Sort o'." Remy shrugged. "Carey travels a lot. Sometimes he stop over, and we talk. Sometimes, dis Cajun gets offers f' Carey, and Carey gets offers f' Gambit. I turned dis one down because o' m' respons'bility t' de Thieves Guild."

"What responsibility?" She asked, taken off guard by that comment.

Remy paused, and squinted a little at Storm. When he realized that she wasn't pulling his leg, he nodded, realizing his mistake. "Ah, Gambit f'get dat Stormy not in de circle 'nymore. Stormy 's now playin' babysitter t' dose boys out dere."

Rolling her eyes, Ororo poked her young friend in the chest. "For your information, young man, those 'boys', as you call them, are only a few years younger than you. How old are you now, 18?"  

"Nope." Remy shook his head vigorously, and flashed another smile at her. "Gambit is 19 now." 

"And what does this have to do with that news that you mentioned?" Asked Ororo.

"Gambit getting married dis summer." 

At this little piece of news, Storm nearly fell out of her chair. "I beg your pardon?" she asked the boy, shocked. 

This time, it was Remy's turn to get a good laugh at the other person's expense. "Y' heard me right, chere. Remy 's getting' married dis summer." 

"B-but, how?" asked Storm, her astonishment causing her to stutter slightly.

"D' y' remember Belladonna? De femme fr'm de Assassin's Guild?" 

Storm looked at him, aghast. "But the Assassin's Guild and the Thieves Guild are archrivals. And that girl, isn't she that…" She trailed off, unwilling to say such a word.

"Bitch?" asked Remy. "She's changed f' de better, Stormy. And we're goin' t' get married. B'sides, it's gonna be good f' the Guilds." 

Storm steepled her fingers together, and sighed. "So you say." She paused for a moment, and wondered if Remy should get married at such a young age. He didn't seem ready for it- too young and vulnerable, especially for a manipulative vixen like Assassin's Guild's Belladonna. But she wasn't here to condemn anybody- she was here to find out more about Carey Li and his offer. "What exactly did he say when he asked you to join his crew?" She asked.

"Not'ing much." Remy shrugged, and leaned back, putting his hands behind his back, lacing his fingers together. "Jus' dat dere would be a big take, 'n dat I would feel… comfortable." 

Looking out the window, Ororo glanced at her young friend, and continued gazing out into the blue sky. "By comfortable, he meant that the crew would be comprised of all mutants?"

"Gambit t'inks so." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Why's dis so import'nt to you, chere? Dat d' crew be all mut'nts?" 

Ororo froze, and Gambit could see her body tense up out of the corner of his eye. She swallowed, and regained her composure quickly. "No reason. I was just wondering."

"Oui." He had taken a card from the deck in his pocket, and was playing around with it, knowing that Storm was lying.

*          *          *          *

By now, it had been more than half an hour. Evan sat on the floor, hand propping up his chin, while Kurt paced around. "Alright." He finally turned to look at Evan. "I can't just wait anymore. Vhat is Storm doing in there?! Ve have to stop her."

Evan rolled his eyes. "Dude, if she really _is _doing it, do you really want to walk in while they're busy?" 

"I don't care. I can't get these _pictures_ out of my head!!" Finally, Kurt couldn't stand it anymore, and he walked into the bar. 

"Dude!" Evan got up anxiously. "Auntie O told us to stay out here!!" He got up, and jogged after his frantic friend. "We're gonna regret this…"

*          *          *          *

There was a rather tense silence between the two friends as they sat upstairs, both contemplating the situation taking place right now. Storm was worried that Gambit knew what she was up to, and Gambit knew that Ororo was up to something- what, he didn't quite know, but the weather witch was definitely nervous, and completely unlike herself.

What should I do? Storm asked herself. If this crew is really an all-mutant crew, and they're out to pull of this incredibly big heist, then I should try and stop them. It's a liability, and if they don't pull it off, they'll give mutants a bad name. Even if they do, and the public finds out… the public isn't ready to find out about us. Before she could contemplate the situation some more, the silence between Remy and herself was broken by a most unexpected interruption.

"Ready or not, here I come!!" Hollered a very familiar German voice, and up bounded a rather anxious looking Kurt. Strangely enough, when he saw the two of them just sitting there, not doing anything, an oddly relieved look appeared on his face, and Kurt grinned sheepishly. "Oops."

Just then, Evan ploughed straight into his German friend, pushing him forward, and they both landed on the dusty wood floor in a tangle. "Dude, tell me next time you brake so suddenly, ok?" He then looked up at the grinning Gambit, and a rather bemused looking Ororo, both of whom were looking down at him and Kurt sprawled on the floor, and grinned guiltily. "Er, we weren't interrupting anything, were we?" 

This is enough. Decided Storm, and she stood up. Crooking her finger at the two of them, she gestured downstairs. "Go. Before I get angry." The two boys, knowing that they had pushed things far enough, hastily untangled themselves and scurried downstairs. Ororo turned to her good friend, and hugged him once again. "Thank you for all your help, Remy. And your time, too."

"Anyt'ng f' you, Stormy." He hugged her, and then pulled back, before flashing her a roguish smile, and a mischievous wink. "Here." He reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out a simple name card, with a number on it. "Call 'im. I know y' want t', so go ahead."

Ororo took the card, and nodded. "Take care, Remy. I'll see you at the wedding?"

Gambit grinned, and nodded. "Oui." He then watched his fellow mutant turn around, and head down the stairs after her two charges. She's some woman. He thought to himself, and stuck his hands in his pockets. Better get back to cleaning. Picking up the mop resting in a nearby bucket, he starting sloshing it in the bucket, and whistled to himself, getting about his chores.

*          *          *          *

"Just what did you think you were doing?!" asked a very exasperated Storm, as she faced the two sheepish looking teenage boys. "I was having a private conversation up there, and I specifically told you to wait down here for me. I'd only been busy for half an hour!" As Storm thundered on, Kurt and Evan seemed to shrink more and more into themselves, embarrassed and humiliated, especially when they thought about _why _exactly they had barged up there in the first place. 

Storm looked at the both of them for a few moments, wondering why they had directly disobeyed her orders. Both were good boys. But something told her that asking wasn't going to be such a good idea, and so, instead, she decided to let that minor incident go, and take them both for the promised lunch. "Come on. I know you both must be starving."

Both Kurt and Evan glanced at each other, relieved that Ororo hadn't been too mad, and trotted off after Ororo, who had already started walking away. Hey, who were they to question why they'd been let off the hook? Might as well enjoy their vacation while they could.

*          *          *          *

Later, that evening

*          *          *          *

Ororo stepped out from the shower, and after drying herself off with the soft towel hanging on the rack, wrapped it around her long silver hair, and pulled on a fluffy terrycloth bathrobe, wrapping it around her slim frame, making sure to tie it securely around her waist before stepping out of the bathroom. 

The hotel suite she'd upgraded to was currently empty- she had placed fifty dollars in both Evan and Kurt's hands, and sent them off by themselves, and didn't give them any curfew time. The delighted look on their faces had assured her that she'd have her privacy for many hours to come, and she could use the much needed peace and quiet to go through with her plans- spending the afternoon keeping an eye on both rascals was more than enough to drain the energy out of even a thief.

She walked over to the couch and lay down on it, before picking up the phone, and dialing a long-familiar number. The phone on the other end rung once, twice, and then it was picked up. The reassuring sound of the warm voice on the other end immediately made her relax even more, and unconsciously, she smiled. "Hello, Charles."

"Ororo." She could almost see the smile, hear the warmth in his voice. But he wouldn't be surprised. "I'd been expecting your call." Yes, she was right. He'd known, somehow. She wondered if that came with being a telepath. But no matter. That wasn't what was important right now.

"I need to find out more about this group of people, Professor."

"And what would that entail?" He asked, knowing that she wouldn't have called to ask his opinion if she didn't need some approval of sorts.

"I think I would need to join their group. Covertly- as an undercover agent."

Ororo hadn't been sure what to expect from the Professor, but she certainly hadn't expected him to start laughing. "Ororo, you're starting to sound like somebody who's acting in a James Bond movie. Don't you think that perhaps some more investigating should be done first? Just how much information do you know? Are you even sure that the crew's comprised completely of mutants?"

Ororo paused. "I'm not sure." Before the professor could say anything else, she continued. "That's why I need to join this crew. Only then can I really find out what this conman has up his sleeve."

"Child," Xavier sighed. "Doesn't the word conman ring a bell? Ororo, this man makes a living being manipulative. And how would you know that they would even let you in? And need I remind you? Undercover work is dangerous."

"Professor, please. Let me do this. I can't quite voice why I should, but I know I must." 

She was met with nothing but silence. Xavier used the silence to give himself some time to think about this sudden change in one of his most trusted friend's behavior. He suspected that she was so adamant about this not only because of her determination to avert disaster, but also because she longed to return to the freedom of her former lifestyle. Ororo was often seen as a restrained woman, who was not very expressive in regard to her emotions, but he knew better. She was a free spirit, who sought to roam and not be tied down by too many responsibilities, but because her mutant abilities were affected so greatly by her emotions, she often sought to curtail her emotions, lest her emotions run wild, and the weather wreaks havoc on the surrounding area.

Perhaps letting her let loose was not such a bad idea. She longed for the freedom of such a life, and having somebody in with this crew of mutants would allow him to keep tabs on their activity. And, if necessary, he could always intervene before things got too out of hand. In addition, Storm was no weakling. She could more take care of herself. Xavier sincerely hoped that he wasn't making the worst mistake of his life, and sighed. "Very well, Ororo. You may go, but be sure to keep me informed."

Smiling, Ororo tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear, and nodded. "Thank you, Professor." 

However, before she could hang up, Xavier added something in. "And don't forget to send the boys back."

She laughed gaily, and shook her head. "After this afternoon, Professor, you can have them back."

After she had hung up the phone, Ororo got up, and proceeded to look for her bag. When she did find them, she pulled out the card that Remy had given her. 

Carey Li

It said, in small, elegant font. And there was a number below it. When she called it, she wasn't surprised to find out that it was one of those voicemail-messaging systems. It was just a number, and was probably untraceable, too. This man knew what he was doing. She left her message, and hung up.

Who knew? Perhaps she'd even get her call tomorrow.

$@$@$@$@$@@$@$@$@$@

Well, it's finally done!! Yes, I could've finished yesterday, but time ran out on me. Don't forget to R&R, and here's what's gonna happen for the next chapter.

Chapter 13: The crew is finally assembled. Unfortunately for the siblings, if the last heist was any indication, group dynamics need to drastically improve, and it looks like the next few weeks are going to be _very_ trying for everyone. And dare I say it? CATFIGHT!!!


	13. Heaven Help Us

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 13

By VivaGlam

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

Hm. Ok, I know I said that I'd post like nuts 'cuz it's the holidays, now. But I hadn't taken into account the little fact that, like, it's impossible to get me to sit down and write. I'd do anything *but* write. Stupid, eh? 

Since this is the first 'real' chapter with all the characters, I'd just state that everybody belongs to everybody… (well, you know what I mean) and I'll get along with the chaos about to take place… ;) Oh yeah, and the timelines have been… uh…unsuspended, and so everybody's well, together again, all at the same time.

*          *          *          *

Los Angeles, California

*          *          *          *

The door leading into the Crest mansion banged opened, and the figure of a petite woman was seen coming up the stairs, with two larger people following closely behind her. CK paused, and looked around the lobby. "Whoa." He breathed. "This is where we're gonna crash?" 

"Yeah. Unfortunately." Mumbled Adrienne, short dark hair mussed up and sticking out in all directions. Her eyes were heavy lidded with sleep, and dark rings circled them, making her look like a panda, much to amusement of the two men with her. "Don't worry, it's not so big that you're gonna get lost." She took her bag away from Kilroy, who had graciously insisted on carrying it for her, and proceeded to stumble away to the room that she had stayed in previously, when she had come back for a short period of time, to steal the security plans for the big heist. 

The two guys looked at each other, and shrugged. "I guess she's tired." Said Kilroy. 

"Y' think?" CK rolled his eyes, and dumped his bags by the stairs that Adrienne had descended not long ago, and trotted past his quizzical friend to the room beyond that. After he walked under the arch, he raised an eyebrow at the sight that greeted him, and whistled softly. "Dude, check this out." 

Kilroy joined his friend, and grinned, realizing why his friend had been so awed. The room in front of them was gigantic, a merge of the living room and dining room, flanked to the left by a fully stocked wet bar, and behind that was a large spacious kitchen. In front of them, a huge sliding glass door was the only barrier between the house and the spacious back yard, in the middle of which was a huge, crystal clear pool. "Dude, I don't see why Adrienne was scared of coming back here. This place rocks, compared to our previous place." 

Just then, both men heard the distinctive, unmistakable sound of a woman's heels tapping on the smooth marble floor, as somebody started walking towards the giant living room from behind them, coming from one of the other rooms that branched off from the entrance and the massive foyer. They turned around to find themselves looking at a sight that made CK wonder if Adrienne had accidentally brought them to the Playboy mansion, instead of the secret headquarters of a group of mutant thieves. 

Deep blue eyes gazed out at them from under thick lashes, her flawless porcelain skin setting off the warm brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders, hanging past them to her hips, accentuating her feminine curves and small waist. The two men stared, dumbfounded at the beauty before them, when she finally broke the spell by squinting her large eyes suspiciously at them and demanding to know who they were and why exactly they were in this mansion. "Who are you, and what are the both of you doing here?" 

Raykel had been wandering about the mansion aimlessly, looking for _something _to alleviate her boredom. For the past two days, she'd been bored out of her mind, having had absolutely nothing to do besides watching movies and hanging out with her teammates. Jay was cute enough, but after awhile, well, nicely put, he just didn't offer Raykel enough mental stimulation. Eclipse was not the most sociable of people, and the reclusive Fayre was hardly to be seen. Gabe had left halfway through to join Carey for something, and Amethyst had hardly emerged from her huge office. 

Despite the fact that her looks often made people underestimate her intelligence, Raykel's mind was quick and sharp, and she often needed plenty of stimulation in order to keep out of trouble, as it were. She was not the kind who could be satisfied with shopping each and every single day. Shopping was great, but too much of anything tended to make one sick to the stomach. She'd nearly been driven out of her mind, when lo and behold; on the day when she was about to threaten Carey and Adrienne that she was going to walk out on them if something didn't happen soon, there they were- the new arrivals. 

Interesting arrivals. She sized up both men standing in front of her. Typical college boys. She thought to herself, not in the least bit impressed. The shorter, heavyset one on the left was clad in jeans and a t-shirt, with an open flannel shirt tossed on over that. Obviously, he's not the fashion maven. He had an innocence to him that reminded her of a country boy who'd just set foot into the city for the first time. He's probably gonna trip over his own feet trying to impress me. She thought to herself, smug with confidence at her attractiveness.

The taller one seemed smoother, with his slick hair and carefully groomed goatee. Dark eyes glinted with intelligence, and his fingers seemed to constantly be moving, itching to _touch _something. And probably steal it. Now this guy belongs in the city. Huh. Odd pair. Wonder where Carey dug 'em up?

There was another pause, when finally Raykel decided to speak up. "Well, are you both gonna introduce yourselves, or just spend the rest of the day staring at me?" She looked one, and then the other, before raising one perfectly arched eyebrow.

This jolted the two men into reality, and CK quickly took the initiative. "The name's CK, darling." He bent down to take her hand and kiss it, never noticing the smug smirk on Raykel's lips. "And don't mind Kilroy, there. He's not quite versed in matters regarding the fairer sex." 

"Is that true?" she asked Kilroy, looking at the man with a carefully orchestrated wry smile and a suggestive tilt of her head. Let's see how he responds to this. 

Kilroy opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unable to really say anything. Then, finally, he managed to choke out his words. "Uh… n-not really." 

Hm. Raykel was barely able to hold back her giggle. Cute, that one. She looked at the two men standing in front of her, and sighed mentally, supposing that enough teasing had already been done. "So you two must've come in with Adrienne."

"Yeah." CK looked at her in faint surprise. "How'd ya know that?"

Raykel smirked slightly, wondering if CK had underestimated her because of her looks. After a moment or two, she decided against it. It was just surprise. "Because the only other person who's been recruiting is Carey, and he got back this morning with a new addition to the team of his own. Where is Adrienne, anyways?" She switched topics suddenly, leaving CK a little off-balance. To her chagrin, the one who'd CK had introduced as Kilroy still hadn't said more than 3 words to her since they'd met a few minutes ago. Maybe he's autistic. 

"She went upstairs to crash the moment we got here." Said CK, pointing in the direction of the rooms. 

I wonder if she knows about the room changes. Thought Raykel to herself. If she went to the room that she'd occupied the last time, then… Raykel trailed off, trying to remember just who was residing in that room right now. Then, when she finally did remember, a slow, evil grin spread across her pretty face. Well, whaddya know? It's Gabe who's in that room right now. And last time I remember, he mentioned something about a shower.

CK looked at the woman in front of him, wondering about that suspicious looking grin that was spreading across her face right now. "Is something going on?" 

Raykel was jolted out of her reverie, and looked at CK. "Nah. Just thinking." 

And for some reason, she seemed to find this extremely amusing, and walked away, laughing. CK looked at Kilroy, who was still speechless from that encounter, and shrugged. Oh well. Might as well get comfortable. 

*          *          

Upstairs

*          *

Opening the door, Adrienne tossed her bag into one corner and tumbled onto the bed before tearing off her sneakers, and tossing those aside as well. She then yanked the pillow to her side and closed her eyes, immediately drifting off into sleep, oblivious to the fact that the shower in the bathroom attached to the bedroom was running, or that her bag and shoes had landed beside another set of luggage, and a pile of shed clothes.

In the shower, Gabe was taking a much needed shower, after having had a good workout upon returning from New Hampshire with Carey and Kat. As he hummed a little tune to himself, enjoying the feel of the warm water flowing down his body, he didn't hear the door slamming closed, or the sound of the shoes landing on the smooth parquet floor. When he was done, he stepped out of the shower, and toweled himself dry, before tying said towel around his lean waist. 

He paused, sensing that something was wrong. But what, he couldn't quite put his finger on. He frowned, and then walked cautiously out to the main bedroom, to fine himself staring, in shock and disbelief, at the prone form of Adrienne, sleeping soundly on the bed in the middle of the room. "Holy sh-"

Before he could complete his curse, Adrienne emitted a very unfeminine snort, and turned over. He held his breath, hoping that she wouldn't wake up. And yet, one part of him wondered what would happen if she did. Admittedly, she looked rather alluring in her sleep, mussed hair, sticking up every which way. Before he could do anything else, she turned again, lying on her back. Her eyes fluttered open, and she squinted a little as her eyes tried to focus. Being short sighted, she wasn't quite sure what she was looking at, until she found herself staring at an almost naked Gabe standing in front of her bed. 

She shot straight up, and her eyes widened, before she SCREAMED. "ARGH!!!" She spun around, and grabbed the first thing that she laid her hand upon, which happened, fortunately for Gabe, to be a pillow. She hurled it at him with considerable force, and he raised his hands to block it, grimacing. "Adrienne, I know how this looks, but I _swear_…"

By now, she'd risen from the bed, and had grabbed another heavier pillow, and was smacking him repeatedly on the head with it. "Pervert!! What were you trying to do?! This is my bedroom, so GET OUT!!" 

He did his best to fend off the blows from the enraged woman, and finally, after having had enough of this, paused, ducked Adrienne's next swipe, which was aimed at his head, and dodged a scarily close kick to the groin before grabbing the pillow. Wrenching it from her hands, he pinned her arms to her sides, and pushed her back onto the bed, pinning her down with his heavier weight. "Calm down!! Addy, it was an accident!! I wasn't gonna do anything!!" 

Both of them were out of breath, gasping, and Adrienne was perspiring profusely. She wriggled, trying to get out from under him. "Get off me!!" 

"Only if you stop trying to castrate me!!" He hollered, trying his best to calm the furious Adrienne.

That seemed to wake her up, and she finally stopped struggling. As she looked around, she realized that she had grossly overreacted, because all the evidence seemed to point towards there being a true misunderstanding. Then, she also became acutely aware of the fact that a barely clad Gabe, who has hotter than hot, was lying on top of her, pinning her down to the bed. She flushed a deep red, and then, he too noticed the odd situation, and quickly got off her, and turned away, trying to hide his red face. "Uh… sorry about that." He muttered. 

"'s ok." Mumbled Adrienne, who slid off the bed. "I'll go downstairs, and I'll come back and move my stuff when you're, uh, decent." Before she went out the door, she turned around, and very quickly, choked out an apology. "Sorry." Then, she left, fleeing out of the room.

*          *          *          *

Downstairs

*          *          *          *

Fayre was sitting on the floor in the den, long legs folded under her in the lotus position, and her eyes were closed, a peaceful, serene expression on her face, skin having been bronzed gold from many years of running under the sun's rays. Her long black hair had been twisted up into a sleek bun, and soft, soothing music played, as she prepared for her daily yoga session. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her arms up over her head, and slowly lifted her right leg out, keeping it perfectly parallel to the ground, and just a few inches above it, while her left leg bent into a squat, supporting her entire body's weight on that one limb. Slowly, she stood up on that one leg, keeping her right leg parallel to the ground the entire time. When she was finally standing up straight, still balanced on her left leg, she slowly lifted it further up, until it was pointed directly at the ceiling. After holding it for a few minutes in that position, she put her leg down. 

To her surprise, she heard somebody clapping behind her, and spun around, hands up and clenched into fists, more than ready to deliver a few blows to whoever had snuck up on her. When she saw who it was, she put her hands down, and shook her head. "Hasn't anybody told you that it's not a good idea to sneak up on somebody?" 

Carey smiled faintly, and walked over to sit on the couch opposite her. "I didn't sneak up on you. You were so busy concentrating that I didn't have any problems trying to keep my presence unheard."

Fayre rolled her eyes, and returned back to the lotus position, folding her legs under her. "So, you must be Carey, right?" She asked.

Carey titled his head a little, and grinned at her. "Good guess. How'd you know?"

"Well, the last name Li was a dead giveaway in regard to your appearance, and the fact that Adrienne's the only other Chinese person helped, too. And she did mention the presence of a mysterious older brother who was kind enough to help her with this crazy idea of hers. Whatever it is." Fayre had now lifted her whole body straight up into the air, balancing the entire weight of her body on her neck, long, lean body perpendicular to the floor of the den, arms supporting her torso.

"You know, it's not natural for somebody to be able to do something like that." Quipped Carey; eyeing the poses that Fayre was contorting her body into.

Fayre would have snorted if she could have, but unfortunately, she had to concentrate on holding her pose, or she would come crashing back to the ground. "It's called yoga. The Indians have been practicing it for hundreds of years to improve their mind, body, and health. They're known the world over for it."

"Ah, kinda like how they wrote the Kama Sutra and invented tantric sex. They're known the world over for that, too. And believe me, it _definitely _improves mind, body and health." Fayre could've sworn that she saw a sly grin on his face, but being upside down and concentrating on holding her yoga pose, she found it rather difficult to see whether he really was grinning. If Fayre didn't know any better, she'd think that the suave conman was flirting with her. But now, it was all she could do to suppress a giggle. 

"You're trying to sabotage me, aren't you?" 

"I need to see just how good our weapons expert really is." He replied, chuckling. "You can stop now, you know. I'm impressed already."

Fayre finally lay her body back down, and got up. "Who said I was trying to impress you?" She asked, winking at him before she walked out of the den. Carey was left a little stunned at her reply, and could only grin at that, admiring her rear view as she exited the room.

*          *          *          *

In the Kitchen

*          *          *          *

Katherine stood in the kitchen in her natural form; dressed in a loose fitting pair of black track pants, and a black tank top, she was busy rummaging through the cabinets and refrigerator, looking for any scraps of edible food. Despite the fact that she'd only been in the Crest Mansion for a few hours, she'd already made herself more than comfortable, moving into the room that she'd deemed best without consulting anybody, and the same initiative (or lack of respect, in some people's opinion) was showed when it came to eating, as was evidenced by her behavior. 

Eclipse had been watching the teenager for awhile, and found herself scowling at her behavior. The kid hadn't said a single word to her since setting foot into the mansion, and already, with even that minimal amount of contact, she found herself developing an intense dislike the kid. Everything about the girl, from her attire down to the frown on her purple face, put Eclipse on edge. When the girl had finally made enough of a mess, Eclipse stepped into the kitchen, and the two women met for the first time. "So, think you've made enough of a mess?" 

Kat turned around to find herself staring at a person who looked startlingly like herself, from the purple skin to the scowl which she imagined she often wore on her own features. "I'm not trying to make a mess. If you'd stepped in earlier and helped, this wouldn't have happened."

The woman smirked, and Kat found her hackles rising defiantly. She _hated_ being laughed at. More than anything else in the world. Glaring daggers, she clenched her fist, and looked Eclipse straight in the eye. "Look, bitch, I have no idea who you are, but I know that you're going in the right direction for a damn big black eye, here."

"You couldn't take me on even if I had one hand tied behind my back, and a blindfold on." This got the desired reaction from the hotheaded little girl, as she gave Eclipse the finger. Teenagers. So easy to manipulate. "Bring it on, kid. Let's see what your best shot is."

And Kat launched all 5ft 6in of her body at the smirking shape shifter.

*          *          *          *

Fayre was walking to the kitchen, intending to get a good cold glass of water, when she heard a horrendous racket coming from the kitchen. The crash and bang of appliances being tossed all over, the thumping of plastic Tupperware falling onto the floor, accompanied with the shriek and yell of two female voices could be heard. 

"Gerroff me!!"

"Ow!! You'll pay for that, bitch!!"

"Argh!! My eye!!"

"Leggo my hair!!"

Worrying about what was going on, Fayre hurried to the kitchen, only to be greeted with a disastrous sight. The newcomer- what was her name? Was rolling on the floor, tussling furiously with Eclipse. It was actually rather hard to tell one mutant from the other, because both Eclipse and what'shername had purple skin, and what with all the limbs flailing all over the place, and the sight of flour and egg decorating them both was enough to make distinguishing one from the other difficult.

Fayre waded into the fray, and miraculously enough, was able to pull the furious women apart. However, Kat was blinded by fury, and since flour covered half her face, her eyesight was impeded, and she lashed out, smacking Fayre on the nose, causing her head to snap back. 

Fayre paused in shock, and touched a finger to her nose, and discovered that there was just the slightest trickle of blood coming from it. "You bitch." She gasped. "You broke my nose!" And with that, she tackled Kat, and brought her to the ground. Eclipse was not willing to sit back and let Fayre have all the action, and she joined in, causing the catfight to turn into a three-way free-for-all.

Meanwhile, Kilroy had been exploring the compound with CK, and he had returned to the main living room, only to discover that a HUGE catfight was taking place. "Whoa." Breathed CK. 

"Dude, a catfight." Muttered Kilroy.

"Maybe you should stop them." Said CK, looking at the very entertaining scene before him.

"Take that!! And that! And that!!" snarled Fayre, as she punched Kat, once, twice, and three times, in the gut. But before she could continue, Kat managed to slam her fist into Fayre's solar plexus, causing her to fall to the ground, wheezing. Kat got up, and Eclipse took the chance to backhand Kat, before struggling to put her into a chokehold. 

"ARGH!! Leggo!!" And Kat thrust her elbow into Eclipse's side, and took the opportunity to pin her against the kitchen cabinets."

"And get in the middle of a catfight?" asked Kilroy, incredulous. 

"Oof!!" Fayre was accidentally kicked by the flailing Eclipse in the crotch, and she doubled over. "Damn you, that _HURT_!!" She punched Eclipse in the eye, and jumped on top of both Kat and Eclipse.

"You're the one who's invulnerable." Answered CK. 

"Shit!!" Hissed Eclipse, and she bucked, trying to get out from under the two other women.

"And get in the middle of a catfight?" asked Kilroy again.

"Ahh!!" Yelped Fayre.

"You're the one who's invulnerable!" Answered CK, yet again.

"HUAGH!!" Kat managed to put on a sudden burst of speed, and managed, miraculously enough, to lift Fayre off herself. She then did her best to toss the kicking, screaming, and yelling Fayre to Eclipse, who then had to deal with the terror. Once Eclipse was distracted sufficiently, she dove onto the pile, and started hammering on whoever was underneath her.

"And get in the middle of a catfight?" Asked Kilroy, one more time.

"I'll teach you to hit me next time!!" Shrieked Fayre, and she proceeded to grab a piece of Tupperware and hit Kat continuously over the head with it.

"Good point." Muttered CK. "Hey, you think you can make it to the microwave? I think we're missing some popcorn."

Kilroy peered at the circle of death, in which the flailing arms, legs, and occasional Tupperware lid flew, and mentally charted out a path. "Yeah, I think so. I'll grab that pack on the floor, and if I stay close to the fridge, it should be ok."

*          *          *          *

5 Minutes Later

*          *          *          *

Adrienne walked down the main staircase, trying to think of apology after apology for beating on Gabe like that. She really didn't know what had overcome her, and shook her head mournfully. Maybe she could treat Gabe to dinner or something like that. Although, the image of Gabe in just a towel draped over his hips was very… well, arousing. She flushed slightly at the thought, and shook her head, trying to clear it out of her head, and remove the embarrassing blush. 

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't her the enormous racket coming from the kitchen until she was nearly there. "What the hell?!" She asked, shocked at the sight that lay before her.

Leaning against the counter separating the kitchen from the dining room was CK and Kilroy, both of whom were munching on a freshly made bowl of popcorn- the steam and the warm aroma of butter wafting from the snack told her that much. 

In the kitchen proper, still going strong, were Fayre, Kat, and Eclipse, all tangled up, each still trying valiantly to murder the other two. Flour, biscuits, and other foodstuffs normally found in the kitchen were strewn all over the place, to the point where Kat's formerly black clothes were now stained a powdery looking gray, from the flour, and Fayre's silky hair was glued to her head, with a disgusting mixture whose ingredients Adrienne really didn't want to hear about. 

"CK!! Kilroy!! We have to stop them!!" She pushed past the two watching college boys, but before she could do anything, she was yanked back by CK, who was holding her collar. 

"Nope. Can't letcha do that. Safety reasons and all that." He shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth, and held the bowl out to her. "Popcorn?" He asked, talking around the fluffy white kernels.

Adrienne glared at the two, and then started looking around. "There has to be _some _way to calm them down!!" 

She then looked into the garden, and saw a hose sitting near the pool. Her eyes lit up, and she made a mad dash for it. Within minutes, the hose had been dragged through the living and dining rooms, and was promptly aimed at the three women. She tossed it to CK, and shouted an instruction to him. "Hold that right there!!" before running back out. 

He didn't quite know what to make of the snaking green hose, until she turned it on. Being a garden hose, the water gushing out was quite powerful, and as CK was in no way prepared for such strength, the hose slipped out of his fingers, and whipped around furiously with the force of the water flowing through it, spraying icy cold water all over the kitchen, the dining room, the tangled mess of angry mutant females, and the not-so-innocent bystanders CK and Kilroy. 

CK hopped around, trying to dodge the spray of water, which coincidentally, seemed to be spraying more water at them than at the shrieking mass of furious female flesh in the kitchen. "Argh!! Come back here!" He hollered at the hose. He stepped forward, only to trip over a length of the hose himself, and fall down, hard, on the cold, wet floor.

Kilroy ignored his friend's pained grimace, and tried doing his best to grab hold of the slippery hose, which to his horror, seemed to move with a life of it's own. 

Over in the kitchen, as the three women sought to untangle themselves from each other and get out of the way of the renegade garden hose, somebody kicked the area under the with a considerable amount of force, causing the already toppled bottle of liquid soap to spill its contents onto the wet floor. CK, meanwhile, made a valiant grab for the hose, only to knock it away from Kilroy, who was _this _close to getting a good grip on the hose. The spraying hose was then pointed in the direction of the growing puddle of soap, and a huge cloud of soapy lather started forming. In addition, the soap made the floor more slippery than ever, causing Fayre, Eclipse, and Kat to slip and slide dangerously across the kitchen floor. No longer were they trying to rip each other's throats- now, just keeping their balance was all that occupied their attention.

Adrienne ran back into the house, only to find herself staring at the worst mess ever. A soaking wet CK and Kilroy were trying to pull the hose in, and Fayre, Eclipse, and Kat were struggling to stand up straight amidst a HUGE cloud of lather that was growing larger and larger by the second. "Oh no." She whispered.

"What the HELL happened here?!!" Roared Carey, standing at the entrance to the living room, looking extremely livid.

"Oh shit." Adrienne covered her face with her hand. "Of all the people to see this first…" 

Carey stalked up to them, eyes bulging, and the vein on his forehead standing out. 

"Oh boy, he's gonna blow." She muttered to herself, averting her eyes.

"WELL?!" He looked at the mess. Fayre was looking terrible, with blood streaming down her nose, and Eclipse was getting a darkish purple ring on her left eye, which, coincidentally, also happened to be nearly swollen shut. Kat's clothes were torn in various places, and she was holding her side, and a spot on her head, a look of pain on her face. CK and Kilroy were slipping around on the slippery, soapy floor, soaked to the bone, and his sister was standing near the exit to the backyard, eyes wide, and the corner of her lip twitching a little.

"Uh, well, you see, I…" 

"She started it!"

"The hose went berserk!"

"The bitch broke my nose!"

"I was just watching the fight!"

"All I did was make popcorn!"

"I tried to stop them!"

To Adrienne's surprise, instead of going berserk at the barrage of excuses that all flowed out all at precisely the same moment, Carey spun on his heel and walked away. Truth was that he was about ready to faint, but he wasn't about to let them find out.

I think I have some aspirins in my luggage. Yes, an aspirin would be an excellent idea right about now…

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

Well, so, whaddya think? Was it worth it? I know that this chapter took awhile, but I just couldn't sit down and write. Sorry. I'll try to get the next chapter out ASAP, but seriously? No promises. But R&R, and tell me what you think! 

And one more thing. If you have a character in my story, and haven't been reviewing, expect a very nasty, sudden ending to him/her. That's all I'm gonna say. I understand if you've missed the story once or twice, because the turnover rate for the front page of the X-Men: Evolution section on FF.net is extremely high, but after a certain point, I lose my patience, and while this is a more lighthearted fic, do not underestimate my ability to make things painful for characters. I have a VERY warped mind. You have been warned.


	14. Old History and New Beginnings

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 14

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

*Sigh* Sorciere's evil, eevvilll cliffhanger has pushed me to writing. Since I was freshly reminded about how terrible those can be. *Groans* On the other hand, Attack of the Clones was _fantastic_. Episode 1 doesn't even come *close*. And Ewan looked soo SEKSAY with his mussed up long hair. Whoo! Hee, can't stop giggling…  
Ok, er… All X-Men: Evolution characters are copyright of Marvel and Kids WB. Everybody else belongs to well, I said that last chapter. To all of you guys who were startled and shocked by that threat, let's just refer to it as a wake up call, ok? As long as you've been reviewing relatively frequently, I won't hurt your character. It's people who've never reviewed before that should be scared. Or then again, you know, if you feel defensive (or guilty), there's a good reason why, huh? 

*          *          *          *

The Crest Mansion, Los Angeles

*          *          *          *

The soft murmur of people talking was the sound filling the spacious room located in the basement of the Crest mansion. Low cream couches accompanied the muted, deep gray floor-to-floor carpeting, and the whole atmosphere was just conducive to rest and relaxation. The thick carpets softened the sound of footsteps as the members of the crew slowly filed into the room, and before long, all of them were seated and waiting for the two people responsible for bringing this motley crew together. 

Then, they entered. Carey, as usual, was dressed smartly, in black pants and a loose black silk shirt entered, followed by his rather weary looking sister, who was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a black tank top, wire frame glasses perched on the end of her nose. 

Adrienne shuffled her feet, and swallowed, before glancing around at the group seated before her. Oh, _wonderful_. She groaned mentally. They look terrible. The motley group consisted of CK, Kilroy, Raykel, Fayre, Jay, Eclipse, and Kat. Adrienne noted that while Fayre, Eclipse, and Kat had cleaned up, they still looked the worse for wear- it was hard to miss the tape stuck across the bridge of Fayre's nose, or the fact that Kat was still holding an ice pack to the lump on her head. Eclipse had morphed to take the black eye out, but Adrienne had no doubt that it was still there- although she certainly wasn't going to take the added risk of poking her in the eye to see if it still hurt. 

And then there was Carey. He was _still _mad after the incident. It didn't help that while trying to get the spat to stop, Adrienne had ended up soaking the entire living room, nor did the fact that CK and Kilroy had popped _popcorn_ instead of intervening. But, things had to go on as planned, and so after ordering that the three casualties be cleaned up and their wounds tended, (and that Adrienne, CK and Kilroy help Lucia clean up the kitchen) he had called the first formal meeting since everybody had gathered together.

"Where's Gabe?" asked Carey, his tone brisk and curt. 

Adrienne did her best to look nonchalant as she shrugged. "I dunno." She mumbled. She averted her gaze from his, and crossed her fingers behind her back. Now was _not _the time for Irritated Big Brother to find out that Annoying Little Sister had tried to castrate his best friend. She noticed Carey's suspicious glare out of the corner of her eyes, and tried to seem like she had missed it.

"Huh." Carey was about to turn around and go looking for his friend, when the man in question ran into the room, holding a cordless phone. 

"Message for you. And I think that you should listen to it." Said Gabe, tossing the phone in Carey's direction. 

Carey caught it, and frowned. "Sit down. We need to begin the briefing now."

Gabe shook his head. "No, it's important." 

Before things could get further out of hand, Adrienne grabbed the phone and walked to the door. "Look, I'll listen to it, alright? You go ahead and tell them-" she nodded at the curious group of onlookers, "what they need to know." Before Carey could say anything else, she had already walked out of the room, dragging a rather surprised Gabe along behind her.

Carey watched his sister drag Gabe out after her, and he narrowed his eyes. Was there something going on between the two? But that had to wait. He turned around to face his curious audience, and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, it's time for the briefing, peoples. You've all been gathered together today for one purpose, and that is to attempt to pull off an extremely difficult heist. Some might even call it impossible."

He closely examined each and every single person in his crew- each of them hand picked, and chosen for their individual talents. Jay was looking like he just stepped out of the 'hood, as always. A thick gold chain adorned his solid, well-muscled neck, and he slouched low on the couch in loose, baggy jeans and an oversized football jersey that did nothing to hide his impressively muscular physique. Known as the best carjacker in the biz, he had a reputation far and wide for being able to boost anything that moved on wheels, and drive them, too. In contrast, the pretty Raykel was perched lightly on the couch next to him, smooth pale skin a contrast to Jay's deep brown, her small frame dwarfed by his huge one. Her silky brown hair was anything but boring, cascading down her back. A pair of stone washed jeans rode extremely low on her shapely hips, and the little lace top she was wearing showed off a smooth, creamy expanse of tummy. Deceptively feminine appearance aside, Raykel was a security systems expert who was on top of her game. While not the best, she certainly was at the top, and oftentimes, had her ingenuity and looks to give her a certain edge when it came to infiltration.

"What myself and Adrienne could not accomplish alone, I believe we can accomplish together. I'm sure you've all noticed that everybody here is a mutant. That's not a coincidence. Each of you was chosen not only for the fact that you're the best in your given fields, but also for your mutant abilities." Declared Carey, dark eyes serious.

A rather disgruntled Fayre was still looking good, tape and all, with her long black hair now hanging down around her face, highlighting deep blue eyes and warm gold skin. She'd changed out of the clothes she'd been wearing a while ago, during her unfortunate catfight. Before today, Carey had never met Fayre before, hearing about the weapons expert and her considerable skills through the grapevine, and he couldn't help but be enamored by the attractive woman. For once, the Abbott and Costello of the group, CK and Kilroy, weren't sitting together. Instead, CK sat between Fayre and Kat, while Kilroy sat between Eclipse and Fayre. It was a wise move, and it reminded Carey of why he'd chosen the two for this crew. The two men looked deceptively innocent, with Kilroy's casual jeans, white undershirt and plaid flannel collared shirt hanging on his stock frame giving the impression of a simple college boy; CK's look was similar, if a bit smoother- the slick dark hair and carefully trimmed goatee made him look sharper than Kilroy, and his wire rim glasses gave his eyes a bit of a gleam that hinted at the damage that this guy could do. By themselves, neither was really much to talk about, but it was what they could accomplish together that was impressive. With Kilroy's pick pocketing skills, and CK's hacking abilities, and their combined smooth talking, they'd managed to pull off quite a few crazy schemes that had given them quite the reputation in the underworld. 

"I won't lie. The odds are against us. I know I've mentioned this before, but I think you all will really understand the full gravity of that when I outline our plan and course of action." 

Eclipse was another heavyweight. She was, by normal classifications, a thief. But what made her so formidable was her shapeshifting abilities- not only would this woman be useful for her skills as a thief, but also for her infiltration abilities. Despite their differences, Carey knew that if he could get Eclipse and Fayre to work together and not claw each other's eyes out, they would make one of the most formidable infiltration units that any big crew had seen in years. Kat, however, was a different story. She was a new player in the game- Carey had only heard about her a year ago. He had to admit that, like Adrienne, the teenager had her age and lack of experience working against her, but her talent and her mutant ability was what gave her the edge into being asked to join this team over some other electronics experts out in the field.

"Many of us have never met each other before these past few days, and differences are present. But I'm confident that you all are professional enough to set aside your differences and arguments for the greater good."

And then, there was Gabe. Sometimes, he couldn't help but feel jealous of his friend, who's tall, dark good looks commanded a presence and attention (especially from the ladies) that Carey could never dream of having. Even now, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd stolen the attention of the one woman in his life whom he cared about more than anything- his little sister, Adrienne. But that wasn't important. What mattered was the fact that the man was his long time friend, and they'd worked together on their fair share of heists. There was a chemistry between him and Gabe that he knew gave the two of them an edge in any con, and this was only rivaled by Kilroy and CK, who were unstoppable together. He certainly couldn't read Gabe's mind, and Gabe his, but oftentimes, during the most crucial point of a heist, each knew the other well enough that they were able to pull through in a pinch, and that was what counted. 

"When each and every one of you was recruited, you were promised a total take of US$40 million in total, at least. It was an old, and inaccurate estimate. The new figure is US$150 million, at least. You're all smart people. Do the math."

He had spent some time holed up in a room with Adrienne, going through the finer points of the heist. And now, the crew was going to hear about it. He reached out, and turned the lights down, heading over to the Apple iBook set up in the middle of the room. He turned the projector on, to reveal a set of floor plans that was screened onto an empty wall, where all the members of the crew would be able to get a good look at it. 

"These, ladies and gentlemen, are the floor plans that a few of you had the experience of stealing a few days ago. Unknown to all of you at the time, with the exception of Raykel, Adrienne, and myself, these are the plans to the Pacific Palisades mansion belonging to a certain Mr. Donald Fry." He noticed that some of the people in the room tensed up slightly, and he saw a small frown on Eclipse's face.

He pressed a button, and the screen changed, showing the picture of a respectable looking white man, dressed smartly in tailored suits and ties, black hair shot through with silver, giving him a distinguished appearance. "To most of you, this name wouldn't make any sense at all- he's legit, not at all famous in the underworld, nor particularly rich. And yet you wonder why you get the feeling you've seen him before."

Carey clicked again, to reveal two more snapshots of the same man. In one picture, he was surrounded by a number of instantly recognizable faces, including several famed drug lords and wanted terrorists. In the other, he was sitting at a table with several other men, with a large banner hung up on the wall behind them reading- 'Friends of Humanity- Help Us Stop the Threat Now'. "This is why. What was unknown to us until recently was that Mr. Donald Fry and the infamous Alex Windsor are one and the same."

Fayre looked at the picture of the man sitting at the FOH conference, and nodded at it. "What's he doing with the FOH?"

"Donald Fry is a big human rights activist. And lately, he's decided to take up the public outcry against mutants as his own personal mission, and has organized a big charity dinner to raise funds for the FOH." Replied Carey, arms narrowed, and arms crossed over his chest.

"Of course, he's also conned the public into thinking that the FOH is just a nice, benign Boy Scout group who happen to be pro mutant registration." Added Raykel.

"You could say something like that." Carey turned to look at the pictures being projected onto the wall once again. "Point is that, Mr. Fry has decided that he'll kill two birds with one stone during this big dinner- not only would he be hosting a legit big charity benefit with lots of bigwigs to raise money for his FOH pals, he'd also be hosting a large terrorist nuclear weapons flea market auction at the same time." 

Kilroy whistled softly. "A nuclear weapons auction? Now I can see where our big money is coming from."

Jay leaned forward. "So we're gonna steal the nukes?" He asked, a thoughtful frown wrinkling his brow. "How're we gonna move them? Those things are huge. There's no way that we'd be able to snatch that out from under their noses with the kind of security he's bound to have that night."

Carey walked to the far wall, and leaned on it, grinning. "That, my friend, is where you're mistaken. We're not gonna steal the nukes."

"If we're not gonna steal the nukes, then what're we gonna steal?" asked a puzzled Kat.

"The money that's being used to pay for the nukes." This revelation left the room in a stunned silence, and all 7 members of Carey's elite crew just stared at him, speechless and dumbfounded, jaws hanging open. "See," said Carey, "The money is deposited to a certain offshore banking account the moment the bid for a nuclear weapon is won. All we have to do is steal the money from that account, and voila-"

"We're rich." Stated Eclipse, unable to mask the shock in her eyes.

"Exactly." Carey couldn't help but grin, the light shining in his eyes.

"So what's the catch?" asked a rather suspicious CK. "If it's as easy as you say, then why aren't just you and Adrienne doing this? Splitting $150 million two ways is much better than splitting it 12 ways."

"The catch," announced Carey, "is that we don't know the account number where the money is to be deposited. Nobody does." He watched the reactions of his crew, examined their facial expressions. There was mostly curiosity, although he noticed a slight bit of trepidation in Kat's eyes, and a vague hint of suspicion in Fayre's eyes. "That's the problem, people. We have to infiltrate that auction, obtain the bank account codes, and one," he lifted up his index finger to demonstrate his point, "divert the money to our own accounts, or two, wait until the money is transferred into that account, before we transfer it back out into our own."

He walked out to face the small group of people, and folded his arms across his chest once again, looking at them in the eyes. "And be reminded- there aren't only nuclear weapons. Mr. Donald Fry is quite the avid antique collector. Don't underestimate the money to be found in those."

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, isn't our only problem. Mr. Fry, or Mr. Windsor, will be taking extra precautions during that night, beefing up his already very extensive security systems. As you all very well know, he is a smart man, and the place will very well be impenetrable, as will be the private electronic network that the auction will be hosted on. Add that to the security forces that will be employed by the terrorists present for the auction, and you have two sets of security forces to contend with. And did I forget to mention that the First Lady will be at the legit charity benefit?"

Jay leaned back, and breathed a soft curse. "You better have a plan, smart guy, because if we can't pull this off, we're gonna be in real deep shit."

"So," asked Kilroy, "Not only do we have to get into a highly guarded, very high profile event that involve not only big name terrorists, but apparently, the First Lady as well, hack into a completely secure standalone network, obtain the account codes which the terrorists will be paying the money to after they have bought their nukes, either transfer money from that account to our own after all of it has been sent, or divert the money while it is being transferred, _and _snatch up some pretty trinkets from Windsor's personal collection while we're at it, all in one night?"

Carey grinned wolfishly. "Precisely."

*          *          *          *

Downstairs

*          *          *          *

Adrienne held the phone out at Gabe, and raised an eyebrow at the man. "Well? What was so important that you had to interrupt my brother?"

"Do you consider one of the most powerful mutants on earth wanting to get in on this job important?" Gabe looked at Adrienne, pulse racing at this sudden revelation.

"What?!" Adrienne stared at Gabe in disbelief. "You've got to be joking." 

"Listen to Carey's voicemail." He nodded his chin at the cell phone in Adrienne's hand. "I swear not kidding around."

Adrienne lifted the phone to her ear, and pressed the appropriate buttons to repeat the message. 

"-this is Ororo Munroe, and I heard through a close friend that you're looking for help. If you're interested, contact me at 693-473-7047."

Adrienne narrowed her eyes at Gabe. "Who the hell is Ororo Munroe?"

Gabe shook his head, shocked that Adrienne had no idea who that woman was. "Only one of the most powerful mutants in the world right now."

"So you keep telling me. If I say I don't know who she is, then I don't know, ok?!"

"She's a weather witch, with the power to manipulate and control the weather and various phenomenon associated with it. She used to be a renowned thief and pickpocket, way back when."

"And she wants to join up with us?" asked Adrienne, suddenly lowering her voice to a hissed whisper. At Gabe's nod of agreement, she covered the phone, and looked around, once or twice. "Is this voicemail and phone line secure?" she asked, voice throaty in a whisper.

"Yeah." Gabe nodded, and swallowed. 

"We have to talk to Carey about this." She started to head back down the hall, towards the den. "This is too good an opportunity to be true, and I want to know what he thinks of this Munroe person." Before Adrienne could walk two steps, however, the doorbell rang, and the two of them turned around to the source of the sound. "Are we expecting anybody?"

"Not that I know of." Answered Gabe. Their eyes met, and the two of them had identical looks of suspicion mirrored in each other's face. "We'd better go check it out."

Adrienne nodded. "Yeah."

When the two of them reached the massive oak doors in the lobby, they saw Lucia about to open them. Adrienne held up a hand, shaking her head, signaling for the maid to refrain from opening the door. Adrienne pointed to the area behind the door, and nodded to Gabe, who nodded back, before moving silently into position. He would be waiting for any sort of an ambush, while Adrienne opened the door. Lucia stepped back and away from the two of them, sensing the possible, albeit unseen danger in the current situation. 

Adrienne quickly swung the door open, and found herself face to face with the most unexpected person possible. Her eyes met pale blue ones, set in a pale face framed by short tufts of spiky orange hair. "Travis?" Asked Adrienne, shocked beyond belief.

"Hey." His smile was vaguely awkward, and he shifted his weight from one foot to another. "Heard you guys might need an explosives expert."

*          *          *          *

The woman standing in the only office on the property was currently facing the window; deep violent hair pulled back into a functional ponytail, showing off her long, swanlike neck. Her expressive eyes were the same shade of violet as her hair, and right now, they were tinged with sadness, as she thought on the events that had occurred within the past week. She sighed softly, and returned back to the massive oak desk that stood at one corner of the room, and dropped her weary body into the soft leather chair behind it. The soft tinkle of water coming from the nearby fountain installed in the spacious room was the only sound in the room besides her breathing, and she found its soothing effect helpful in calming her tense, taut nerves. 

There was a knock on the door, and she called out. "Come in." 

Her maid and trusted confidante, Lucia, opened the door and stepped into the room, a tray in her hands. "I thought that I'd bring you something to eat, Miss Crest. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning." 

Truth be told, Amethyst didn't think that eating would help, but since Lucia had already prepared something, she might as well eat it. Smiling up at the matronly lady, she took the food. "Thank you, Lucia." Instead of leaving, as she normally did, the lady nodded, but hovered around, as if wanting to say something, but not being quite sure of how to go about it. "Is something wrong, Lucia?" asked Amethyst, cautiously.

The woman turned to her, and Amethyst was surprised at how much worry was in her eyes. "Actually, Miss Crest, I wanted to ask you the same thing. You have been quiet, very unlike yourself ever since this started. Maybe agreeing to help Mr. Li wasn't such a good idea-"

At that, Amethyst raised her hand, cutting off Lucia. She found herself angry that Lucia would think of such a thing, and put her bowl of food down. "Lucia. He didn't do anything to me. I miss him, to be sure, but this is a purely business deal. I saw the opportunity for a good investment, and I took it. Understand?"

The normally placid Lucia frowned, and held fast, reminding Amethyst that no matter how sweet she seemed, Lucia still had the fire in her veins that she had inherited from her Latin ancestry. "Tell me you didn't accept it because it was Carey. You promised me not to do anymore of this the last time. And are you willing to take the risk of harboring a whole group of unscrupulous, greedy, and unrepentant criminals in your home? What if they get into trouble? And I guarantee you that _will_ happen. And what if you get caught this time? What would happen if all that you've worked for ends up getting flushed down the drain because you still have feelings for a good-for-nothing scoundrel who doesn't even care about you?"

At this, Amethyst had had enough. "Lucia! One more word like that, and I swear I'll do something I regret!! That's enough!" She slammed one hand onto the table, and her eyes flashed angrily. The normally even-tempered Amethyst had been pushed too far, and now she was angry. This caused both of them to suddenly go quiet, and the silence in the room was suffocating and heavy.

Lucia wondered if she should go out now, but decided against it. "Amethyst, I'm just worried for you. You know that having him here is an unnecessary liability, especially when you're trying to pull off such a big and risky heist. The last thing you can afford to do is to have your feelings for him interfere and cloud your sense of judgment. No amount of money is worth that risk, Amy." 

Amethyst looked up at Lucia, pain in her eyes, realizing that for the first time in years, Lucia had called her by her pet childhood name. "I wouldn't have agreed if I didn't think the risk was worth it, Lucia. I wouldn't be working in the heist proper, anyways. And true, I accepted because of Carey, but not because of what you think. I…" She looked away. "I don't love him." 

Lucia looked at Amethyst in irritation, knowing that Amethyst was lying. And she knew that Amethyst knew that she was lying. "Don't lie. Or look me in the eye and tell me that you don't care for him."

Amethyst turned around, refusing to look Lucia in the eye. "He's a good conman, Lucia. The best in the business. That is why I accepted. No other reason." Unknown to Lucia, a single, small tear started to trickle down her cheek, and she shook her head, intending to end the discussion before she started to break down.

Before Lucia could scold her some more, a knock sounded on the door. "Amy? Can I come in?" Asked a familiar, and right now, very unwanted voice. 

Quickly raising her hand to wipe away her tear, Amethyst turned around, and answered. "Yeah, Carey, come on in. It's just me and Lucia."

The man hesitantly opened the door, and stuck his head in. "You sure?" His tentative expression made Amethyst wonder if he'd heard the rather heated conversation.

"Yes. I was just about to leave." Lucia picked up the now empty tray, and brushed past Carey. "Be sure to finish the food." She called out to Amethyst, and flashed an angry look at the conman that made him shrink back slightly.

"Uh, was I interrupting anything?" he asked.

Amethyst sniffed slightly and grinned, a little too showily, in Carey's opinion. "No, not at all. Besides, it's always good to see you. How was the recruiting?" She gestured to the chair in front of her. "Go on, sit down." 

Carey frowned mentally, knowing that she was hiding something. He crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping fervently that it had nothing to do with him…

Carey sat down, and leaned back, crossing his legs so that the ankle of his right leg was resting on his left knee. "Well, it's pretty good. We got everybody I listed, with the exception of the demolitions expert, Travis Stone, and another thief, Remy LeBeau."

"So that brings the total down from the anticipated 15 to 13, right?" 

Carey nodded. "Yeah. Well, I hadn't expected all 12 recruits to agree- so 13's about the number I'm gonna need. Well, 12, since you're not gonna take part in the heist itself. But you're still a part of the crew. Oh yeah, and the briefing's complete." 

Amethyst nodded. "That's great. None of them wanted to drop out after hearing about the odds?" 

Carey grinned. "Let's just say that with this group of people, odds aren't really all that much of a concern."

"Right." Replied Amethyst, nodding at the comment, putting on a polite little smile for Carey. After that, there was silence. Amethyst wondered if she should say something, and Carey wondered if he should leave. "So," said Amethyst, clearing her throat slightly. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Uh, just reporting. I mean, since you have the biggest stake in all this, I was thinking that maybe I'd give you an update on what's happened."

Amethyst looked at him. "I don't need an update on what's happening, Carey. You and Adrienne have kept me perfectly updated." Should she? I want to know. I _need_ to know. "But I would like to know about your real feelings about our… relationship." She looked into Carey's eyes, showing that she was, in all earnestness, serious about this.

_"But I would like to know about your real feelings about our… relationship." _When Carey heard that, he honestly felt like liquefying and disappearing through the floor. Why? Why now? It was going so well, too… He looked at Amethyst, and just did his best not to liquefy, which unfortunately, was his first instinct. "Uh, what did you want to talk about… in particular?"

"I… I still care for you. And I want to know if you do, too…"

Oh, please, no. Not that question. "I… I'd rather not talk about that. Not when it might compromise our mission." He quickly stood up, and averted his eyes from her gaze. "I'm sorry."

That's it? Amethyst asked herself incredulously. I put my feelings on the line, and that's all I get? A brush off? She watched Carey get up, and the more she thought about it, the more furious she got. He was about to leave the room, when Amethyst finally lost it, and slammed her hand on the table. "Dammit, Carey Li, don't you DARE walk out on me now!! I want an answer, do you hear me?! Or I swear, I will do something to hurt you." 

Carey turned around, looking positively shocked, and more than a little scared, too. He swallowed, and just stood there looking at her. Oh, man. I guess the old saying was true- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…

"Now sit back down here." She pointed at the chair in front of her, and Carey obediently sat back down. "And whatever you do, you'd better NOT lie." She glared at the cowering man, and he nodded mutely. "Now spill."

"I-I…" He leaned forward, and buried his face in his hands. "I don't care for you anymore, Amy. Ok? Not like that." He got up, unable to face Amethyst, and left the room. Before he did, he turned around and looked at Amethyst briefly. "I'm… sorry."

Right after Carey had said it, Amethyst had felt the world spinning around her. Slowly, at first, and then, it started going faster and faster, and everything just turned into a dizzying whirl around her, and she couldn't see anything except the blurred objects, and oddly enough, the reflection of herself in the mirror opposite her. The torment she saw in the reflection was horrible, and the pain, likewise, was slow and gradual, but oh, her heart ached so badly, and a roaring sound started to pound on her ears. 

"After all this time…" She whispered to herself, stunned.

She attempted to stand up, but her legs were too weak to support her, and she ended up falling to the ground, before instinct took over, and her mutant power kicked in, causing her to float just a few inches above the ground. The tears were already falling freely down her cheeks, and she curled up into a small ball, sobbing softly to herself.

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

GASP!! Horror of horrors!! Is Carey the slimy cheater that we think he is? What made Travis come and join the crew all of a sudden? And now that we now just how bad the odds are, how is the crew going to go about pulling this impossible task off? And do we even know the full extent of the odds, or are Carey and Addy hiding some things from their crewmembers?

*Shrugs* oh well. You're just gonna haveta wait till next time. :P Oh, and don't forget to R&R!! And regarding the last threat, don't worry, if you've been reviewing regularly, and have only stopped recently because of computer trouble, there's no need to get alarmed. Besides, it ain't all that easy to kill of people, you know. ;) But there still is the possibility that death might come on those who do not do their duty, or, terrible the possibility might be- a fate worse than death? Can it be? *Giggles* Yes, I'm feeling homicidal. Why do you ask? 


	15. Surprise Carey Day

Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff

Chapter 15

By VivaGlam

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

First of all, I would like to apologize profusely for having to make you guys wait so long for this chapter to come out. A number of factors came into play with this part of the storyline, and I'll explain them to you guys at the end of the chapter, not in a way to gain redemption, but to just let you know, as I feel you guys have the right to know. 

And yes, here's the disclaimer before we proceed any further. All the characters belong to their respective owners, and canon characters, specifically Stormy dearest, belong to Marvel, or Kids WB. BTW, I would like you all to meet somebody, but after this chapter, eh? Now, on with the long awaited show!!

*          *          *          *

The Crest Estate, Los Angeles

*          *          *          *

Carey stepped out into the corridor, head hung low. His discussion with Amethyst had left him drained, both emotionally and physically. As he walked down the corridor away from her office, his shoulders slumped forward, and each footstep seemed to take a monumental amount of effort. 

I'm sorry, Amy. But it was for your own good.

Before he could continue musing anymore about their relationship, he nearly collided head on with his younger sister, who was just rounding the corner. 

"Care?" She had the widest grin on her face, and her face was lit up like a lamp. Obviously, something had happened to make her this cheerful, and he certainly wasn't going to ruin his little sister's mood when she was this happy. Things were finally falling into place, with the exception of his recent discussion with Amethyst, and he didn't want to dampen everybody else's mood. Team morale was important, especially with regards to pulling off a heist as difficult as this one.

"Yeah, what?" He quickly pulled on a smile before she could say anything else.

"Travis showed up." That statement caused Carey to do a mental double take. 

"Travis? But you said he…" Travis had declined! The feeling of surprise gave way to Carey's innately suspicious nature, and he was immediately on alert as to why the man had had a sudden change of heart. But apparently, Adrienne lacked any such gut instinct, for she was still babbling on happily.

"I know! Talk about a pleasant surprise. Looks like we're gonna get a proper demolition's expert after all." Adrienne grinned, and then surprised Carey again by suddenly reaching forward to give him a hug. "Everything's finally fall into place, _da ge_[1]." 

She looked up at him, and for a brief moment, he saw through all the bravado and the confidence she had been wearing as a mask ever since Day 1. "We might actually be able to pull this off."

Carey paused, once again. This was definitely a day for surprises. First the talk with Amethyst, and then Travis showing up, and now this sudden revelation that his sister wasn't quite as confident about this whole situation as he'd assumed she originally was. 

I guess I'm not the only one in the family who's good at lying. The thought that even Adrienne wasn't quite sure about this whole heist was rather unnerving, actually. But it was his place to be strong for the two of them- it always had been, and so he did the only thing that he was could do.

"Yeah right." His snort was derisive. "We _will_ pull this off, ok? And don't ever talk like that again, it scares me." He looked down at her, and hugged her back, an affectionate grin on his face. 

"Thanks, Care." She smiled up at him, adoring, and he was suddenly transported back in time to when she had relied on her _da ge_ to take care of her, and his heart swelled with pride at how he had managed to pull them both through all those tough times.

"Now get going. We have to actually work out about how we're gonna break into the mansion." He turned and continued walking down the corridor with her, towards the living room.

"There's more."

This time, he stopped dead in his tracks. "More?" This time, he didn't bother to try and hide the disbelief in his voice. "What day is it? Surprise Carey day?"

Adrienne shook her head, completely serious now. "Both Gabe and I agreed that this one's a little funky, so we'd run it past you. Some lady calling herself Ororo Munroe called your voicemail and left a message about wanting to join the crew."

She's right. That's quite suspicious. 

Adrienne watched Carey as he pondered this newest development. Despite the fact that he'd smiled and acted happy when she'd broken the news about Travis, she had seen and recognized that look on his face right before he had smiled for her, no doubt in an attempt to keep her from worrying about whatever was on his mind.

"Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, as her question shook him from his reverie. "Huh? No, nothing at all. I was just thinking about this Munroe woman you just told me about." But he was starting to walk down the corridor, away from her, no doubt in an attempt to avoid a questioning from his younger sister.

"Not that." She grabbed his sleeve and reeled him around so that he was leaning against the wall, a touch of annoyance starting to tug at her emotions. "Something else was on your mind before I told you about Travis. You don't have to play big brother anymore, you know. I saw right through your act."

For once, Carey was glad that he was such a proficient liar. "And you're being stupid. I was just thinking about the heist."

"Liar." Adrienne was started to get angry. "I'm not just the little sister anymore, Care. I don't need protecting anymore. So cut out the brave strong big brother act and tell me what's bothering you."

Before Carey could protest about it some more, Gabe rounded the corner, and the argument quickly came to an awkward end. 

"Uh… was I interrupting anything?" He asked, looking from one sibling to the other. Adrienne had a very miffed looked on her face as she eyed her older brother from the corner of her eyes, while Carey had that vaguely blank, carefully neutral expression that he always put on whenever he didn't want to show any emotion or express any weaknesses. This also usually meant that something was up, and that there was something the conman wanted to hide. Gabe made a mental note to ask Carey about it later.

"Nothing… nothing at all, Gabe. Were we blocking your way?" Carey looked at his friend, stepping aside just in case his friend needed to walk past the two of them.

"Actually, no. I was looking for the two of you." He then focused his attention on Adrienne. "Addy, did you tell him about Storm?"

Adrienne paused, thrown off track by this sudden change in names. "Storm?"

"Ororo Munroe."

"Yes, she's told me about her offer." Carey looked up from where he was looking thoughtfully at a blank spot on the corridor wall. "I've been thinking about it."

"And?"

"Maybe we should go into a private room." Adrienne interjected, before opening the door behind her. "I don't want to discuss this while standing in the corridor."

Gabe nodded, agreeing with her. They all stepped into the room that Adrienne had opened, which turned out to be a small den of sorts, quite comfortable really, with low couches and dim lighting.

Once they had all sat down, and Carey had closed the door behind him, he started speaking again. "It's suspicious, no doubt about that."

"She's a thief." Gabe added, and their eyes met, as the two just looked at each other. Not a word was being exchanged, and yet Adrienne could feel as if entire conversations were being held between the two that she was unable to hear. 

Finally, Carey stirred, turning away from his friend's gaze. "She's an old-timer… hasn't been in the business for some time."

"We could always use another thief." Gabe again pushed forward, and Adrienne could see that while he was cautious, Gabe was all for taking on the wind-rider into their crew. All that he had to do now was get Carey's approval, and she only just realized now, with faint shock, that her opinion in this situation hadn't really ever mattered.

Gabe could almost see the wheels turning in Carey's head. Weighing the choices, the advantages and disadvantages of taking this stranger on. They had never met her before, but there was still talk of the extent of her skills when she had still been in the business. And then there was the more pressing question of how she had found out about their heist. Was there an information leak? 

Before Gabe could say anything, Adrienne voiced his question for him. "Who do you think told her about the crew?" 

"I think it was Remy. He's quite close to her. He must've told her about us when I turned him down."

"Why?" asked Adrienne.

Gabe shrugged. "Maybe he owed her something. The take's going to be big, that's for sure. That in itself would be enough of an incentive to try and use that to pay off a debt."

"What do you think?" asked Carey suddenly, focusing his gaze on his little sister. "Should we take her on?"

Adrienne paused, suddenly unsure of what to say. She certainly hadn't expected her brother to ask for her opinion. "I… don't see why not. We need her skills as a thief. My only problem is with security. This whole thing smells, if you ask me."

"Yes, it does." Murmured Carey, more to himself than to the others in the room. "The question now is are we willing to forgo some security for the benefit of the skills she might give to the operation?" 

"I think so." He knew that Carey and Adrienne were probably already aware of his stance on this whole situation, but he wanted to voice it out, so that there would not be any unsaid assumptions.

"I've never met her, so I wouldn't know." It was Adrienne's turn to voice her opinion. "But if she checks out with you two, then I say go for it."

Carey paused to think his decision through again. Eleven in the crew (excluding Amy) was enough, wasn't it? But another thief. There was only 1 thief on the crew right now, and Eclipse was about as temperamental and unreliable as they came.

"Alright, then. Gabe, send her our answer and the next plane ticket over here."

"Sure." Gabe got up and headed towards the door, trotting at a brisk pace. He was looking forward to seeing what the infamous Storm could bring to this heist.

Once Gabe had left the room, Adrienne turned to look at her brother. "We'll talk about what's bothering you, _da ge_. Sooner or later, I'm going to pry the truth out of you."

Part of her wanted to bring up their argument again, to go further than just that statement, but it wasn't the right time. So, after a long pause in which she debated whether or not to continue pursuing the argument, she stood up and left the room quietly, leaving Carey alone with his thoughts.

*          *          *          *

"Travis!! Mah man!!" Travis turned around, slightly startled to hear somebody hollering out his name, only to see Jay ploughing towards him, before the giant man engulfed him in a huge hug that crushed Travis to his chest.

"It's-" Travis wheezed, the air having been crushed completely out of his lungs. "Good to see" A hacking cough, "you, too."

"Man! What's it been? 2 years?" asked Jay, grinning. "How've you been doing?"

"Not bad." Travis pulled away from Jay's crushing embrace. "I see you've been getting stronger." He added, a lopsided grin appearing on his freckled face.

"Sorry, man." Jay laughed slightly, sheepish. "It's just…" He closed his eyes, and another wide grin broke out on his face. "Man! It's been ages."

"Yeah, it has." Agreed Travis. "Dude, it's good to see you, too. Still boosting cars?" The two men started walking up the sprawling marble stairs in the foyer, and turned left, heading towards the rooms.

"Oh yeah." Jay grinned, and rubbed his hands together. "In _Vegas_, man. You should see the cars that come through there." 

"Damn. You must be living the good life, eh?" They had reached the door to the room that Travis had been assigned, and Jay helped his old friend open the door.

"Hell, yeah. Just give me some hot jobs to boost and a few fly honeys and I'll be the happiest man in the world." Chuckling at Jay's latest statement, they both entered the room, and Travis heaved his suitcase onto his bed. "So, whatchoo doin' here? Heard you ain't in the business no more. How come you showed up here?"

Travis sighed and flopped onto the bed. "You're joking, right? With that big a take? I was dumb to turn Adrienne down the first time around."

"Oh."

"'Sides, it's not like I had much of a choice." He mumbled darkly under his breath to himself.

"What was that?" asked Jay, turning around to face Travis. He thought he'd heard him mutter something, but he didn't quite catch it.

"Nothing." Travis looked up at Jay, and grinned, with just a touch of forcedness in his smile. "Nothing at all."

*          *          *          *

Downstairs, at the den where the briefing had taken place earlier that day, Adrienne was pushing away odd books and loose papers on the large glass coffee table, clearing the way for the large sheaf of rolled papers that Carey was holding in his left hand. In his other, he was holding a number of black markers of varying sizes. Before Adrienne could shove away a pad of college ruled paper, he stopped her.

"Wait." She looked up at him, questioning. "We'll need that." She nodded, and stuck that underneath her armpit, grasping it between her arm and her torso. 

He then bent down, and unrolled the large papers, translucent in their thinness, and spread them out, using various small objects to weigh them down. Both Adrienne and him looked carefully at the complicated floor plans that were open before them, examining it carefully.

"Does anything jump up at you?" asked Carey?

Adrienne picked up a pencil and circled a couple of places. "Here." She muttered, pointing a finger at one particular spot on the paper. "And here."

Carey paused. "Yeah. Less security." He looked over to his sister, whose forehead was furrowed deeply in concentration. "Maybe we should get Raykel and Eclipse to give their opinions."

"I'll got get them." Adrienne stood up, and left the quiet room, leaving Carey to pore over the plans sitting in front of him. After a few minutes, Adrienne arrived back in the room, with Raykel and Eclipse tagging along.

"Here." Carey shifted around so that the other three women could join him at the coffee table. He pushed the plans over to the two of them, so that they could get a better view at the plans, and he then picked up a marker. Leaning forward, he used the marker to circle two additional spots, in addition to the areas that Adrienne had already circled. "We've pointed out 4 weak spots, but two of these are tentative- we're not sure just what kind of security there is on that side. Any ideas, or opinions, ladies?"

Eclipse narrowed her eyes. "Looking at this, I'd say that coming in from the sea is probably the best choice, but this whole expanse right here-" she jabbed a finger at the grounds of the mansion closest to the ocean, "seem suspicious. There's bound to be something there."

Adrienne turned to Raykel. "Any ideas?"

"I can't really say. I do believe it's a garden of sorts, but I can't say much more than that. There could be anything there." She ticked options off her fingers. "Motion sensors, cameras, lasers, anything." Raykel turned her pale eyes at her three crewmates. "I'm going to need much more than that in terms of what kind of security there is, specifically."

Carey leaned back, slightly perturbed. "Fantastic. _More _plans?"

"Not necessarily. These plans will do, its just that I need something more… detailed."

Adrienne frowned. This wasn't good- not at all. They'd gone through too much effort to not have these plans work for them. "Is there anything we can do?"

Raykel was silent, obviously contemplating the situation. Then, her eyes lit up, and she started smiling again. "I've got a solution." She stood up, dusting off the seat of her jeans, more out of sheer force of habit than the dirt on the couch. "We'll still use these plans to break in, but I'll just need more stuff to supplement what we already have. Go ahead and build your plans based on these layouts. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Asked Eclipse, sharply. 

"I told you, to get more stuff to supplement the floor plans that we already have. I'll be back soon. Meanwhile, go ahead and plan the break-ins, but be sure to run them by me when I get back." She then left the room, closing the door behind her before anybody else could ask her anything more.

"Right." Adrienne turned back to the plans, and used her pencil to mark the spots that they had circled. "Eclipse, what would you do?"

"Coming in through from the cliffs would be my first choice, and from the sewers the second. Where are our various targets?"

Carey picked up a fat red marker and circled the vault that sat 3 floors down from ground level, as well as another room on the second floor of the building. "Here is the vault where all the antiques are held. And here is where the auction is going to be held. I've yet to talk to CK about it, but I think that the computers and the specialized mainframes where all the electronic exchanges of money will be taking place on will be located somewhere nearby, either in this," he proceeded to mark an 'X' over two adjoining rooms, "Or this room."

"Why only those 2 rooms? He's got an entire floor's worth of rooms." Asked Eclipse.

"Because with the kinds of capacity needed for such a mainframe, it's likely to be quite large, and these two rooms are the only ones big enough to accommodate them. Plus, it's perfect, because it's far enough away from the actually banquet to be unnoticed. In fact, it's almost in an entirely different wing of the mansion."

"We might have to keep in mind that mainframe might be located in a hidden or invisible room. One that won't show up on the plans." Interjected Carey. "I'll talk to CK and Kat about that."

"We're breaking the entire crew into 4 different teams, based on the particular strategy that Carey and I have come up with." Continued Adrienne. She got up and walked over to the whiteboard that was along one wall, and picked up one of the erasable markers to write on it.

"There will be 4 groups in total- we've decided to call them Focus, Surveillance, Cash, and Antiques." Adrienne scribbled down the four group names across the board, and then drew 3 lines separating them down the board.

"Carey and I still haven't quite confirmed who exactly will be in which crews, but this is the tentative division. We've divided everyone up based on their various skills and talents, taking into account who works best with who." She looked at Eclipse, addressing the thief, so that she might be able to work this into whatever plan she was to help them come up with.

"So which teams will be breaking in, and which ones will be coming in legit? Assuming I'm beginning to understand what you're getting at." Murmured Eclipse questioningly to the two siblings.

"Both Cash and Antiques will be breaking in. Some members of Surveillance and all of Focus will be entering legit, but that's not important right now." Carey answered Eclipse's question.

Eclipse bit her lip and looked down at the plans. "Let me look them through. When's Raykel going to be back? I'll need her help."

"Soon." Answered Adrienne. "Meanwhile, I'll go and talk to Kat and CK about the kinds of equipment and supplies that we'll need. If we're gonna get the kind of technology that those two have been clamoring for, we're gonna have to order them now." 

"Oh, and if I see her, I'll tell her to come up and talk to you guys about this." And then she left the room, leaving Eclipse and Carey by themselves, to discuss the finer points of their strategy.

*          *          *          *

"Yes, sir. Yes. The plan has been set into motion." Weight, shifted from one foot to the other, nervous energy making the speaker restless, uneasy.

"What? No. I don't know anything as of yet. Neither one has said exactly what's going to happen. Yes, I do realize time is running out." Eyes, shifty, darting back and forth, glancing here and there for anybody who might be coming this way, and anybody who might overhear the conversation.

"I'm not going to slack. No! I'm not hiding anything! I'm not stupid. Yes, I'll tell you the moment I know what's really going on. All I know is who the target is going to be, and…." Footsteps. Coming this way.

"I have to go. No, you don't understand. Somebody's coming." A touch of impatience, barely noticeable, except to the speaker. "Yes, yes, I'll call you again." The phone was hung up, and quiet footsteps retreated into the distance, taking the treachery with it. 

And the night was silent.

*          *          *          *

Author's Note:

Ah, yes, the explanation. Firstly, as always, with me, there was school. I've just completed 12 credits of classes during both summer sessions, and let me tell you, that was no laughing matter. I didn't even get the customary 1-week's break between sessions, because I was attending two different schools and they all started on different weeks. Second, I was rather stuck on how as to proceed. Yes, to all your horror, I had not properly planned out to plot to every last detail up till this point, and as such was procrastinating. But, things do get better. I've got 3 entire weeks without school, and I do plan to get at least 1 chapter out a week. Plus, we're actually about halfway through the story right now, so you don't have to endure much more of this agony.

And regarding the person I'd like you all to meet- drum roll, please. *grin* Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Tora No Shi, my newest muse!! Yes indeed, you heard correctly. My newest muse. I decided that between my school, drawing, and writing, I think placing it all on one muse wouldn't be fair. So after much debating, I decided to take Tora on to lighten Ewan's load. Of course, I also didn't count on the fact that the two would absolutely not get along for the love of their lives, but I suppose it's part of a price to pay for artistic freedom. :P What was that? Stripes on his face? Oh, its part of the 'Evil Feline Assassin' package. Huh? Yeah, his name means "Tiger of Death" Those of you who read the Witchblade comics released by Top Cow would know. Isn't he gorgeous? *hugs Tora*

_In Chapter 16:_

_The plan starts to fall into place, and the various teams start to rehearse their bits of the big plan. Raykel has connections that provide her with the plans they need, and together with Eclipse, Carey, and Adrienne, they form Plans A and B. Storm arrives, throwing another unknown factor into the equation, and my goodness gracious me, is somebody smitten with her? Unbeknownst to the crew, there are factors already in play that may have compromised the heist even before they've started preparing. And they're being watched._

'Till next time, folks!!! *g* Oh, and many thanks to all the lovely people who're still reading after all my crap and inconsistency. All of you. *muah*


	16. Hiatus Notice

Ok, I hate to do this, but I'm afraid I have to, if only to make it official to you guys. After all, as my faithful readers, I feel that I do owe you all at least the truth about things, and to come clean with the status of this story now.

I can't continue this anymore, and while the technical term is that I'm putting my story on 'hiatus', more likely than not, Thieves, Scoundrels, and All Kinds of Riffraff will never be continued. Terrible, but like I said, I feel that I owe you guys the truth, and so I'll come clean and tell you the truth.

Why? Well, for a number of reasons.

School. Lame, and used far too often, but like I seem to be repeating so often, the truth. I have now started my upper division classes, and I'm currently taking 18 credit hours, 2 classes of which are 4 credits each. Plus, I'm now also President of the International Association on campus, and that will demand a fair amount of my attention. Time. Or rather, lack of said attribute. Linked closely with the above excuse, and with writing this fic. As you all know, my chapters are quite long, and I can't really afford to take the time to write the chapters (about 5-6 hours easy gets invested into each one) and plan for the plot, and work on my studies, and be President of the IA. Drawing. Oh, the horror. VivaGlam is abandoning writing for drawing? In short, yes. For those of you who don't know, I draw. Quite a lot, actually. In fact, almost as much as I write. Now I'm not abandoning writing permanently, but writing on FF.net, yes. I used to think I could balance the two, but now, I realize that I can't. You see, I have bigger aspirations than just drawing as a hobby. Somehow, some part of my poor deluded consciousness has started to entertain the idea of maybe one day getting good enough to be a professional penciller of comic books. Which means practice. Lots of it. Because while I am "not half bad", I am nowhere near good enough to pencil my own stuff, or go pro. Especially if I wanna work for the bestest comic studio out there ever, Top Cow!! *jumps around* But in all seriousness, I've realized that I can't juggle both writing and drawing, and one had to go, and since I wish to pursue a professional career in drawing, writing's going to have go on the back burner. 

And those, in short, are my excuses. Not terribly good excuses, but like I said, the truth. I will still write occasionally- probably for Sorciere's Journey Through Hell, little vignettes when the mood (or rather, muse) strikes, and I'm currently taking part in a collaborative writing community on LiveJournal, called Chronicle. If you pop by my journal, you'll see that on my Friends page. And if you stop by my terrible excuse for a website, you'll be able to see the stuff I've posted up.

Now, here's the good part for you readers. You see, I feel so guilty about putting Thieves on permanent hiatus that I've decided to give you all a chance to get one of a kind commissions from me. Ok, technically, I don't do real commissions, in the sense that I don't charge people for my drawings. But I don't normally do requests, except for friends. However, because time is precious, and I don't want random people just coming up asking me for commissions, I've decided that I'll only give the commissions to the owners of the characters in Thieves, and for people who've reviewed sincerely at least twice. I know who you are, and you know that I know. I'm not going to give out drawings to just anybody. I figure it'll be good practice, and I do owe it to you all. 

Now here are some of my conditions:

No hentai/nude/sexually explicit pictures. Sexually charged atmospheres are doable, but it depends. Ask me. Only 1 picture to each person, and 2 characters of your choice at the max in each picture, please. I'm not free 24/7. These things take time. I may or may not do graphic violence and scenes of death. Again, this is negotiable. I will also not be able to send the original picture, on paper, to you. However, the picture will be yours, you will receive a scanned copy, and it will be dedicated to you. I just ask that you keep my signature on and ask me before any alterations are done. Also, please credit the work to me. I don't want people to plagiarize my work. On a last note… I also do birthday presents and gifts for my other friends. Those will have priority over yours, and I will do them in order, with a emphasis on first come first serve. Therefore, a period of waiting is necessary. Please be patient. 

The pictures will be first penciled, and then inked. I will send both the scanned and inked copies to you, once I'm done. With me first sending you a small scanned sketch for your approval, before I proceed with the ink. When you're ready, you can email me and ask for your commission, and the requested subject for your picture. Be sure to tell me who you are, and that you're 'cashing in' the commission I allotted you. I also reserve the right to decline a request, and to say no to somebody whom I feel doesn't deserve the commission, but I'm flexy (with regards to the subject of the picture), so don't be afraid to ask. We can always negotiate.

Again, a thousand apologies for putting this on hiatus all of a sudden, and I do hope that this commission system makes up, at least in part, for what I'm doing to you and your characters. ^^ If you're picky, feel free to drop by my little website where I post my stuff to take a look see at what I can do. I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm not half bad. Just not good enough. Not yet. *grin* 

Here are the links to the various sites/places I haunt:

My LiveJournal- http://www.livejournal.com/users/vivaglam

My pictures page- http://www.geocities.com/vvaglm/index.html

Also, feel free to email me at my address- Vfgirl@hotmail.com. 

Once again, I'm so sorry, and have a good day, guys. I'll see you guys around FF.net? *grin*


End file.
